Delhi Women's Panel Chief Swati Maliwal Sits On Protest After Being Denied Meeting With Rape Victim

Swati Maliwal , the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), staged a protest at the hospital after being refused access to meet a minor girl. This girl was purportedly a victim of rape by a Delhi government official.

The head of the DCW expressed that the hospital administrators had declined her request for a meeting with the victim.

"The director of the hospital came to meet the DCW chief and informed her that the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) and assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of the Delhi Police are inside the hospital and had instructed them not to allow her to meet the victim," stated the women's panel.

The commission additionally issued notifications to the departments of women's and child development and services under the city government, along with the Delhi Police, urging them to initiate an inquiry into the incident.

Maliwal expressed her "shock" that the culprit was not apprehended by the Delhi police even eight days after the First Information Report (FIR) was filed. "At the request of the Delhi Police, I was not even permitted to meet the survivor. I'll meet the survivor and offer any assistance I can," she continued.

The women's panel has requisitioned the Delhi Police to furnish a duplicate of the FIR and updates on any apprehensions made. They have further asked for a comprehensive account of the steps taken by the local government in response to the involved law enforcement officer. Additionally, the commission has sought records pertaining to any previous grievances lodged against the officer, along with the outcomes of the actions undertaken.

The Delhi government and Delhi Police have been urged to provide their reports by Wednesday.

In a Twitter reply to Rekha Sharma, the chairwoman of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Maliwal refuted the allegations, asserting that the DCW's "own officer has been raping a girl for the past two years." She strongly objected to what she perceived as misinformation propagated by the NCW chairperson and certain BJP politicians, who claimed that the accused was associated with the DCW. Maliwal issued a warning of legal recourse against these baseless assertions. She labeled this claim as misleading propaganda, emphasising the intention to take legal action to halt the dissemination of such unverified news and to safeguard the commission from harm.

Premoday Khakha, a deputy director in the municipal government's department of women and child development, has been alleged to have committed multiple instances of rape against a minor girl spanning from November 2020 to January 2021, as stated by a senior law enforcement official. Furthermore, there are assertions that Khakha's spouse administered medication to terminate the girl's pregnancy.

Subsequent to the interrogation, Khakha and his wife were taken into custody on Monday.