Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met the family of the Delhi Cantt victim and consoled them in their time of grief and sorrow. He assured the family of all possible support from the Delhi government. The CM announced that the Delhi government will provide the family an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh and order a magisterial inquiry into the case. He further said that the government will appoint top lawyers so that the culprits get strict punishment for their crimes.
After meeting the victim’s family, CM Kejriwal assured the family of full support from the Delhi government and said, “A nine-year-old girl had to unfortunately suffer a heinous crime and was then murdered. I met her grieving parents. The injustice that has happened with the family is very distressing. Their loss can’t be compensated for, but the Delhi government will provide them Rs 10 lakh ex gratia. We will order a magisterial inquiry into the matter and appoint the best lawyers available so that the culprits get strict punishment.”
The Chief Minister stressed upon the deteriorating law and order situation of Delhi and said, “There is a requirement to fix the law and order system in Delhi. I appeal to the Central government that concrete measures be taken in this regard and the Delhi Government will fully cooperate with the Centre in order to fix the law and order situation in the city. Delhi is the national capital. If such incidents take place in the city, it does not send out a good message about the city. It makes the people feel unsafe and internationally sends a message that India’s national capital is witnessing such heinous incidents.”
According to an agency report, when Kejriwal reached the area to meet the victim’s parents, the protesters mobbed the chief minister and started raising slogans against him. However, in Delhi, policing and law and order come under the Centre. The parents of the girl accompanied by hundreds of locals have been staging a protest near the site of the incident, demanding capital punishment for the accused.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has launched an inquiry into the incident and summoned the city police after the girl’s parents alleged that she was raped and her body was forcibly cremated by a crematorium priest who had falsely claimed that she was electrocuted. Radhey Shyam (55), a priest at the cremation ground, and three other employees—Kuldeep Kumar (63), Laxmi Narain (48) and Mohd Salim (49)—were arrested on Monday.
On Sunday evening, the girl had gone to get water from a cooler at a crematorium near her house. Police said that around 30 minutes later, the priest, Radhey Shyam, and two-three other people known to the girl’s mother called her and showed her the girl’s body, claiming that was electrocuted while getting water. The girl’s mother said the accused had told her that if she informed the police, a post mortem would take place, and the girl’s organs would be removed. They then forced her to cremate the body.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Wednesday issued a notice to Twitter India after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted photos of the parents of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and murdered. According to ANI, the Commission said Rahul Gandhi’s tweet violated guidelines of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi had met the victim’s family and said he is with them on the path to justice and “will not back down even an inch”. “The tears of her mother and father say just one thing—their daughter, the country’s daughter, deserves justice. And I am with them in this path to justice,” Gandhi tweeted after meeting the family. Asked with whom responsibility lies in the case, Gandhi said, “I only know that it is my job to help them.”
The BJP, meanwhile, accused Rahul Gandhi of using the case for “furthering” his political agenda, and asserted that the law and order machinery has moved swiftly to deliver justice to the victim’s family. During a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said his party had no issue with Gandhi, who visited the girl’s family earlier, calling for justice, but what was condemnable was the Gandhi family’s “selectivism” as they never tweeted or spoke a word in the cases of atrocities against Dalit girls in Congress-ruled states like Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. “You close your eyes and open only when you think you will have some political benefit out of it. This is appalling,” he said, adding that the Delhi Police has arrested four accused in the case.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS