Found abandoned during Covid-19, Noida’s ‘Nari Niketan’ reports highest admissions in April-May

Between April and May, when the second wave of Covid infections ravaged the country, Gautam Budh Nagar’s only women’s shelter - Nari Niketan - in Sector 34 got 10 new inmates, which officials say is a record for a two-month period

Between April and May, when the second wave of Covid infections ravaged the country, Gautam Budh Nagar’s only women’s shelter - Nari Niketan - in Sector 34 got 10 new inmates, which officials say is a record for a two-month period. Overall last year, there were 18 admissions.

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The shelter houses those who are brought in by the police. These are usually those who are mentally challenged and abandoned by their families or fled from their homes due to some distress, said officials. From January to March this year, there had been seven admissions.

The shelter’s superintendent Deepika Patel, said, “The shelter is housing 158 inmates against the maximum capacity of 150.” Last year, only one person was admitted in April and May, she added. “The 10 in the last two months is some sort of new record.”

Atul Soni, the district probationary officer, too agrees with Patel. “We have never seen as many women being brought to the centre as much we saw between April and May this year. Usually it is one or two,” he said.

The shelter home has been admitting inmates since 2018 and often housed women who were transferred from other districts. In fact, of the 158 in the house currently, 50 were from Bareilly and Vrindavan.

“Before each admission, medical tests, including for Covid-19 and pregnancy, are mandatory so that the lives of other inmates are not at risk,” said Patel.

Patel added that the shelter home also homes children. “One is the child of an inmate, while the other six are girls. We do not know their history,” he said.

The sudden spike in admissions and the months when Covid’s second wave was at its peak in GB Nagar, was no coincidence, according to women’s rights activists.

Mala Bhandari of Social And Development Research & Action Group (SADRAG) said, “It is safe to assume that under the garb of Covid-19 reactionary abuse, women are being deserted. Abandonment is also another kind of abuse or violence against women”.

Earlier HT had reported that 813 such domestic violence cases were reported in April and May this year in the district, according to data from the 112 emergency number.

“It is possible that these women may have lost their families during the second wave of Covid and wandered from their homes in shock,” said Patel. “Another possibility is also of abuse because we have often seen that when we try to reunite a mentally challenged woman with her parents or husband, they refuse to taking her back. There have been numerous cases when domestic violence at the hands of the husband have also led the women to run away from their homes.”

As per Dr Ritu Gautam, Family Dispute Resolution Clinic coordinator who conducts counselling for cases of violence against women, the background of the women is needed in order to ascertain a reason for the spike. However, she added, “Usually women end up in such a situation when they are highly dependent on their father or spouse and suddenly lose that support. This could be due to their death or could be due to dispute.”

Deputy commissioner of police (Women’s Safety, GB Nagar) Vrinda Shukla said that these women are found in a state of shock, distress and trauma by the police officials.

“While some of the women are reported by residents of the district to the police on Dial 112, some are found by the police on patrol. When police officials ask them about their whereabouts, they are unable to give any answer and require special counselling. Hence, they are sent to the Nari Niketan at Sector 34,” she said.