Maliwal urges police chief to trace girls immediately

Ananya Panda
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 7

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal today met Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and expressed her apprehension that police officials may also be involved in “re-trafficking” of the nine inmates who went missing from a government-run shelter home for girls on December 3.

She appealed to the police commissioner to pull out all the stops to reach to the core of the issue, and trace the inmates missing from Sanskar Ashram Shelter Home for Girls in Dilshad Garden.

Patnaik assured her of prompt action on the issue informing her that the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch and police are making all possible efforts to trace the girls.

“The victims, who had been rescued in dire condition from GB Road, may have fallen back into the trap and forced into prostitution. Already five days have passed and there is no clue of them,” said Maliwal asking the CP to direct the Crime Branch to also ascertain the “linkages of the traffickers with shelter home authorities as well as police”.

Among the missing inmates, one 15-year-old girl upon her rescue by the DCW had informed the police about her ordeal at GB Road brothel. Maliwal told the CP, “She had been raped by several men daily on GB Road and when the DCW team was on its way to rescue her, the police in collusion with the traffickers tried to hide her. While the commission had ensured that her statements were converted into an FIR, no action has been taken against the official.”

She urged Patnaik to take strongest action against police officials at the Kamla Market Police Station alleging collusion of the police there with brothel owners for covering up trafficking of minors and business at GB Road. Police there have developed a nexus with the traffickers and inform brothel owners of raids in advance, she noted.

Maliwal also took up the commission’s demands of installation of high quality CCTV cameras in the GB Road area and appointment of “sensitive and honest” officials at the Kamla Market Police Station under whose jurisdiction GB Road falls.

The DCW chief had also appealed to Lt Governor Anil Baijal to ensure that GB Road is immediately closed and urged the Delhi government to create rehabilitation schemes for survivors of trafficking and ensure better condition in shelter homes.