People we help

How do HRLD get to know about their cases and who are the people they help? Many victims of rights violations who turn to HRLD for help have heard about the NGO and their work through the media. Various articles and reports about their activities have been published, so many people have contacted Sarode and his team after reading about their work.

Even within the police and courts in Pune they are well known, and many official institutions refer victims of rights violations over to HRLD. So do other NGOs dealing with social grievances but who are not directly engaged in legal issues. Other people seek the help of HRLD after having met one of the members on their numerous ‘field visits’ such as in prisons, in the red light districts etc.

The Human Rights and Law Defenders have so far taken every case which has sought remedy from them, and assisted them in the most suitable and possible way. In most cases they provided free legal aid and those people, who were not living in Pune, were assisted through legal guidance and/or were referred to a competent lawyer from the responsible organization – ‘Public Legal Aid Committee’. The only exemption HRLD makes is that they don’t take up cases from men accused of rape. On an average, HRLD handles 20-30 cases a month.