The National Human Rights Commission on Monday issued a notice to Tamil Nadu’s chief secretary and director general of police after reports came in that thousands of people were forced to attend political rallies in the scorching heat. A press release from the NHRC said people attended rallies where drinking water and basic facilities were not provided, which led to injuries and loss of lives. The notice has come after two people died at Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s public meeting on April 11, and three more died in other rallies around the state. Several people have also suffered heatstrokes at these events, reports said.

The commission has asked for a detailed response within two weeks, and asked the chief secretary and DGP to take measures to prevent similar incidents. Recently, people were asked to attend rallies at Salem, Cuddalore and Virudhunagar as early as 11 am though the public meetings were scheduled to begin only after 3 pm. The NHRC noted that such rallies were held despite orders from the district collector for people not to venture out between 11 am and 4 pm.