‘People from govt trying to save him’: NCW chief on Delhi minor rape incident
NCW chief Rekha Shrama alleged that Premoday Khakha and his wife had kept the girl with them illegally adding that the couple hadn't legally adopted the minor.
National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma announced on Monday that the body had taken suo-motu cognisance of the alleged rape of a minor by her father's friend, a Delhi government official identified as Premoday Khakha. Making the announcement, Sharma said the NCW will conduct an inquiry into the case.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Sharma said, “NCW has taken suo-moto cognisance and we will conduct an inquiry into the case. An officer who worked with the Women and Child Development (WCD) department and worked for women's rights, has been accused of raping a minor girl. When he raped her for the first time, she was 14 and is now 16.”
Accusing ‘some people’ from the Delhi government of trying to save the accused, the NCW chief added, “An inquiry will be conducted where members of NCW will speak to the minor. It has to be investigated thoroughly since we are hearing that some people from the government were trying to save the accused officer.”
Khakha, who along with his wife has now been arrested, allegedly raped the girl from October 2020 to February 2021 after bringing her home following her father’s death in 2020. His wife allegedly gave the victim abortion pills to terminate the latter's pregnancy, the teenager told police in her complaint. The sexual abuse came to light when a psychiatrist at a Delhi hospital, who counselled the girl, reported the matter to the police this month.
Shrama alleged that Khakha and his wife had kept the girl with them illegally, adding that the couple hadn't legally adopted the minor.
She further questioned the Delhi government and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) for not knowing that an employee at a senior level was committing such a crime. She said, “When an employee of the WCD Department of Delhi government who was also working with DCW is doing all this, what were the Delhi government and DCW doing?”
Sharma said that the NCW had written to the Delhi government and WCD regarding the matter.
DCW chief sits on protest after being denied to meet minor girl
Earlier in the day, DCW chief Swati Maliwal sat on a protest at a hospital after she was not allowed to meet the minor.
Speaking to reporters, Maliwal said that she wanted to see what the Delhi Police was trying to ‘hide’ and why she was not being allowed to meet the survivor and her mother.
She said, “I am sitting here on a protest as I want to see what it is that the Delhi Police want to hide and the DCW chief is not being allowed to go in and meet the girl? We are trying since morning, the hospital is constantly asking us to not visit. Why shouldn't I visit? It is my statutory duty. Why wouldn't I meet the girl? It is such a shameful thing for Delhi police and the hospital that Delhi Commission for Women chief has to sit on the floor because they aren't letting me meet the survivor.”
