National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma.
Credit: PTI Photo
The NCW on Wednesday hit out at the DCW over the alleged death of a mentally and physically challenged rape victim.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) alleged the victim was relocated by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to a shelter home falsely registered in Delhi but operating in Ghaziabad.
No immediate reaction was available from the DCW on the matter.
The incident involves a mentally and physically challenged woman who was allegedly raped by a neighbour. Considering her immobility, People against Rapes in India (PARI), an NGO, contacted the DCW and requested that a shelter home be assigned for her, the National Commission for Women (NCW) said in a statement.
PARI founder and social activist Yogita Bhayana inspected the condition of the shelter home she was assigned and requested the DCW to relocate the victim, the statement said.
'DCW kept delaying the formalities and a volunteer from PARI upon inspection realised that the victim died in the shelter. No information regarding her death was given to any authority. No inquest/post-mortem report was available for the deceased victim. Delhi Police confirmed their limited role in transporting the victim,' the NCW statement read.
On June 6, the NCW deployed a team to probe the matter, a week after the woman's death on May 29. The NCW's inquiry revealed a 'concerning discrepancy' between the shelter home's registered address in Delhi and its functioning location in Ghaziabad, the statement said.
'The shelter home operated without proper permission or license from Uttar Pradesh,' the NCW claimed.
After the NCW's intervention, it found out that two deaths had occurred since the shelter home's establishment in October 2022 with inadequate police reporting, the NCW alleged in its statement.
Although the shelter home claimed to handle unclaimed dead bodies, no license for this was presented, the NCW claimed.
A letter to the DCW chairperson was sent on August 3, seeking an urgent clarification on relocating the victim to a shelter home in Ghaziabad. 'However, a reply is still awaited,' the NCW said.
'The mysterious death of the woman raises a big question on why the Delhi Commission for Women sent her to a shelter home which is registered in Delhi and operating in Loni, Ghaziabad,' the NCW said.
The incident also raises questions about how many women have been sent to that shelter even though it lacked 'the basic requirements of a safe and clean shelter home', it added. The NCW also shared photos of the shelter home which purportedly showed its poor infrastructure.
The NCW also said it has written a letter to the Ghaziabad district administration to immediately stop the shelter from operating. The DCW's 'administrative failures' raises concerns about 'oversight, accountability, and the regulatory framework surrounding such institutions', the NCW alleged.