Reported by Sandeep Sharma
Guwahati: The Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Youth Association (APCYA) has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking an investigation into allegations that Rs 3 lakh was allegedly taken from the employer of a 15-year-old Chakma girl who died in Roing, Lower Dibang Valley district, while the case was under consideration by the rights body.
In a complaint submitted to the NHRC on Thursday, the APCYA urged the commission to register a case against Chikond Chand Chakma of the All India Chakma Students Union (AICSU), who is the complainant in NHRC Case No. 57/2/18/2025-CL, and his alleged accomplice Amit Chakma.
The association alleged that the two took or extorted Rs 3,00,000 from the employer of the deceased girl in an attempt to settle the matter.
The case relates to the death of a 15-year-old Chakma girl who was employed as a domestic help and died in Roing on December 11, 2025.
Earlier, on March 13, 2026, the NHRC had recommended that the Chief Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh hand over the inquiry into the girl’s death to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a “fair, independent, and child-sensitive” investigation, citing lapses in the earlier inquiries conducted in the case.
According to the APCYA, a video of the victim’s father, Lakkhimuni Chakma of Gautampur village under Diyun Circle in Changlang district, later surfaced on social media.
In the video, he allegedly stated that the employer had paid Rs 3 lakh, of which he received Rs 1.10 lakh, while the remaining Rs 1.90 lakh was taken by Chikond Chand Chakma and Amit Chakma.
APCYA president Rup Singh Chakma alleged that after the video emerged, the AICSU constituted an internal inquiry committee instead of informing the NHRC about the allegations.
The committee comprised Drishyamuni Chakma, president of AICSU; Uttam Chakma, adviser, AICSU; Parbesh Chakma, president of the Central Mizoram Chakma Students Union and executive member of AICSU; Ahimsak Chakma, general secretary of AICSU; Jiban Basu Chakma, president of the Tripura Chakma Students Association and member of AICSU; and Sunil Kumar Chakma, legal secretary of AICSU.
“Expectedly, the AICSU, which acted as the judge and jury with respect to the complaint against itself, dismissed the allegations made in the video by Lakkhimuni Chakma, father of the deceased,” Rup Singh Chakma said.
He further alleged that the matter raised serious concerns about the integrity of the complaint process and its possible impact on the pursuit of justice in the case.
“This is not only gross injustice against the death of a 15-year-old girl, in which the NHRC was pleased to order an inquiry by the CBI, but it appears to be a case of the complaint filed with the NHRC being used as a means to extort money to settle the matter, vitiate the investigation, and deny justice to the victim and her family,” he said.
Rup Singh Chakma also claimed that misuse of complaints relating to child labour cases had become a growing concern within sections of the Chakma community in Arunachal Pradesh.
“This abuse of the NHRC for the purpose of extortion or taking money to settle the death of a girl calls for proper intervention by the NHRC to ensure that no one uses the NHRC for the purpose of extortion. Extortion from those who employ child labourers from the Chakma community and the victims’ families to settle the matters, especially during rescue of the victims, has become a menace among the Chakmas in Arunachal Pradesh. Often the accused cannot be prosecuted, thereby creating a vicious cycle of child labour from the Chakma community in the state,” he alleged.
The APCYA has requested the NHRC to direct its Investigation Division to conduct an inquiry into the allegations and to share its findings with the CBI, contending that the alleged exchange of Rs 3 lakh could potentially affect the ongoing inquiry and the course of justice in the death of the minor girl.