DCW initiates inquiry into death of minor Dalit girl in Delhi's Nangal
Opposition targets Amit Shah over law and order
New Delhi, Aug 3: The Delhi Commission For Women has initiated an inquiry into the death of a minor Dalit girl under suspicious circumstances in southwest Delhi and has summoned the city police in the matter.
Police said the nine-year-old girl died under suspicious circumstances and her parents alleged she was raped and then cremated without their consent on Sunday. They said four people, including the priest, have been arrested.
The DCW has instituted an inquiry into the death of the girl in Delhi Cantonment, the panel said.
The commission had received a call on its 181 Women Helpline on August 1 at 12:35 am regarding the incident. It immediately sent a team to the police station and assisted the family in filing an FIR in the matter.
While stating that the case is "very serious" and merits "urgent attention', the panel summoned the deputy commissioner of southwest district to be present before it on August 5 and produce the complete case file along with a copy of the FIR.
It directed that the senior police officer also produce a copy of the statements of the family recorded under section 164 of the CrPC, details of the accused arrested and a detailed action taken report in the matter.
"If you fail to comply with this order without lawful excuse , you will be subjected to the consequences of non-attendance as provided in law," the summon said.
The police said the girl lived with her parents in Old Nangal village in a rented house in front of a crematorium. On Sunday around 5.30 pm, she went to get cold water from a water cooler at the crematorium after informing her mother.
At 6 pm, the crematorium's priest, Radhey Shyam, and two-three other people, known to the girl's mother, called her there and showed her daughter's body claiming that she got electrocuted while getting water from the cooler. There were burn marks between her left wrist and elbow and her lips were also blue, a senior police officer said.
The priest and the others dissuaded her mother from making a call to the police, saying they will make a case out of it and during post-mortem, doctors will steal the girl's organs, so it was better to cremate her, the officer said.
Opposition parties on Tuesday targeted Home Minister Amit Shah over the death of a nine-year-old Dalit girl following an alleged sexual assault, questioning the law and order situation in the national capital, even as the Delhi Police said strict legal action has been taken against the accused.
"What was my daughter's fault? How will I live without her?" the mother of the girl wailed as hundreds of locals, including the victim's parents, staged a protest for the second day near the site of the incident in Old Nangal area in southwest Delhi, demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad also joined the protest and demanded justice for the child.
"The fire was doused by our community members who reached the spot and pulled the legs of my daughter. We need justice for her and the accused should get strict punishment," the girl's mother said.
Only the burnt legs of the girl were recovered from the crematorium ground.
On Tuesday, the Delhi Police appealed to people not to believe in rumours and said that strict legal action has been taken under IPC, SC/ST Act and POCSO Act.
"We appeal to people not to believe in rumours. Strict legal action has been taken under IPC, SC/ST Act and POCSO Act. An ACP rank officer will be the investigating officer. All the accused have been arrested and sent to jail," the Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) said in a tweet.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that there is a need to improve the law and order situation in the national capital, adding that he will meet the victim's family on Wednesday.
"The murder of a nine-year-old innocent in Delhi after subjecting her to brutality is very shameful. There is a need to improve the law and order situation in Delhi. The culprits should be given capital punishment at the earliest, the chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that Shah went to Uttar Pradesh to "distribute certificates" but was "unable to handle his own responsibility".
She was referring to Shah's visit to Uttar Pradesh earlier this week during which he praised the Yogi Adityanath government for taking the state to the "top spot" in law and order.
From Hathras to Nangal, there is "jungle raj", Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged.
The Delhi Police comes under the Union Home Ministry.
"The home minister, who is responsible for maintaining law and order in Delhi, had gone to Uttar Pradesh to distribute certificates but is unable to handle his own responsibility," the Congress general secretary said.
Tagging a media report on the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, "A Dalit's daughter is also the daughter of the country."
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also trained his guns on Shah and alleged that the law and order situation in this country is in shambles
"A 9-year-old girl was allegedly raped and forcibly cremated in the national capital, right under the watch of Mr @AmitShah! The law and order situation in this country is in shambles," Banerjee tweeted.
He also targeted Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.
"The harrowing experiences faced by our women & girls and members from the SC community on a daily basis, show just how INSENSITIVE the HM is," the TMC MP, who is also the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stated.
"Recently appointed Delhi CP Rakesh Asthana who is also a close aide of Mr @AmitShah - already failing his duties? Or does his appointment mean taking care of other businesses?" he added.
Bhim Army chief and Dalit leader Chandra Shekhar Azad said that the case should be investigated properly.
"It was a lie that the girl died due to electrocution. They (accused) cremated her body without the presence of the family. We have heard that the parents of the girl were also pressured to give a statement accordingly," Azad told reporters here.
दिल्ली, नांगल में नाबालिग बच्ची के साथ हुई घटना दर्दनाक एवं निंदनीय है। सोचिए क्या बीत रही होगी उसके परिवार पर?
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 3, 2021
दिल्ली में कानून व्यवस्था के जिम्मेदार गृहमंत्री जी यूपी सर्टिफिकेट बांटने गए थे, लेकिन खुद की जिम्मेदारी नहीं संभाल पा रहे हैं।
हाथरस से नांगल तक: जंगलराज है।
दलित की बेटी भी देश की बेटी है। pic.twitter.com/CdbWkCwePP
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 3, 2021
The law and order situation in this country is in shambles.
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) August 3, 2021
Recently appointed Delhi CP Rakesh Asthana who is also a close aide of Mr. @AmitShah - already failing his duties? Or does his appointment mean taking care of other businesses?!
SHAME on @BJP4India. (2/2)
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EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
