DCW slams cops, Centre on safety

Death of a 14-year-old dalit rape victim, who was repeatedly sexually assaulted and was forced to drink a corrosive substance, prompted the DCW chief to lash out at the Centre and the Delhi police on the issue of women’s safety in the city.

“How many Nirbhayas does Delhi want We all simply wait for the next Nirbhaya to die,” Delhi Commission for Women chairperson, Swati Maliwal, said on Twitter. “The girl was fed a corrosive substance which completely destroyed her internal organs and she died a very painful death,” she said, adding that it was only after the commission issued a notice to the DCP (North) that the accused was arrested. She asked the Centre to set up a high-level ministerial committee on women’s safety under the leadership of Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

“To add insult to injury, home ministry scrapped Women Safety Sp Task Force in Delhi set up wen Nirbhaya died stating it’s mandate finished! She is dead ! We the system is responsible. Never felt so helpless. Need to do something. Come on people ... (sic),” Ms Maliwal said in a series of tweets.

The DCW chief was alluding to the Centre’s decision to disband the special task force on women’s safety in Delhi. It was established in 2013 in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya gangrape.

On Friday, the DCW had issued a notice to the police questioning the handling of the case of the minor who was allegedly kidnapped, subjected to sexual assault several times and forced to drink a corrosive substance.