NEW DELHI/BENGALURU – The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India has taken suo motu (on its own motion) cognizance of a distressing media report detailing the alleged bribery and corruption faced by a grieving father at every stage following the death of his daughter in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Karnataka, demanding a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.
The NHRC’s action follows media reports published on October 30, 2025, which highlighted the ordeal of a 64-year-old father who was reportedly forced to pay bribes to an ambulance driver, police officials, crematorium staff, and civic authorities while arranging the last rites for his only daughter. The Commission observed that the allegations, if true, raise “serious issues of violation of human rights.”
The deceased, an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad, reportedly suffered a brain haemorrhage on September 18, 2025.
According to the media reports The father was allegedly over-charged by the ambulance driver for transporting the body.
The police reportedly displayed a lack of empathy and demanded a bribe before providing copies of the First Information Report (FIR) and the post-mortem report.
Even at the crematorium, where the family donated the deceased’s eyes, money was allegedly demanded and paid.
The father faced a considerable delay in receiving the death certificate from the Mahadevapura Municipal authorities, which was reportedly only issued after he paid a bribe, despite the intervention of a senior officer.
The case gained widespread public attention after the father, identified in local reports as a former senior executive, shared his experience in a viral social media post, asking, “I had money, so I paid. But what will the poor do?”
Following the initial public outrage sparked by the father’s account, the Bengaluru City Police had already initiated action. Media reports indicate that two police personnel, including a sub-inspector, from the Bellandur Police Station were suspended pending an internal inquiry.
The NHRC’s intervention now places the entire multi-agency investigation under high-level national scrutiny, with the Karnataka government being mandated to submit its findings swiftly.