Now, Barkha too seeks action

NEW DELHI: Taking note of the submissions of three Ugandan women allegedly forced into prostitution in Khirki Extension, Delhi Commission for Women has written to the Delhi Police commissioner, B S Bassi, seeking action against the accused.
In her letter, DCW chief Barkha Singh has also asked Bassi to depute maximum police personnel in Khirki Extension and increase patrolling in the area to ensure that no woman is forced into prostitution.She has asked the area SHO to take legal recourse to curb anti-social activities so that people can live in free and peaceful environment.
"I would like to bring to your attention statement given by three Ugandan women in front of the DC, South (Mehrauli), Neela Mohanan," Singh said in her letter. According to their statement, they had been brought to India from Uganda on the pretext of employment, but when they came to Delhi, they were pressurized to sleep with men, saying that this is their job, Singh said. "These women refused to oblige. They were then threatened and their passports were taken away and kept in the personal custody by one Iran, a fellow Ugandan, who, according to them, was involved in illegal human trafficking and forcible prostitution," Singh added.
These complainants said they were residents of Khirki Extension and were victims of the accused named Iran whose address is not known. "I have been given to understand that after getting their statement recorded with the DC, a case against the culprit, Iran, has been registered at the Malviya Nagar police station on the directions of the DC, but no address of the culprit has been shown in the FIR. In my capacity as the chairperson of DCW, I seek stringent legal action against the culprit as named in the FIR," Singh has asserted.
Till last week the Delhi Commission for Women Chief Barkha Shukla Singh was in the news as she was at the forefront of the demanding action against law minister Somnath Bharti over a midnight raid at Khirki Extension which was described as a racist attack on Ugandan women. Infact, the DCW had issued a notice to Bharti in the matter and summoned him to be present before the Commission. When he did not appear what followed was a bitter altercation between Bharti's lawyers and the DCW chief. Next one saw the government announce its decision to replace present chief and instead bring in famous Hindi novelist Maitreyi Pushpa as the new chair. However, the LG returned the file to the state seeking reasons for the change. The DCW chief a former Congress MLA who was close to former CM Sheila Dikshit too has refused to resign citing the rules and alleged she was being removed by the government as she had summoned the law minister. Kejirwal on his part has maintained that the change in DCW was necessary as this is not a political post.