‘Private hospitals can’t refuse treatment to rape victims’, says Delhi HC

Private hospitals have been refusing rape victims, despite court orders.

Private hospitals cannot refuse treatment to rape victims, the Delhi high court said on Wednesday while directing the Delhi government and city police to prepare an action plan to make the national capital crime-free for women. The court also said all dark spots in the city should be lit up, to ensure the safety of women.

The court also said that the Rs. 3,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund has been lying unused, and can be used for installation of CCTV cameras. (HT FILE)

A bench of justices GS Sistani and Jyoti Singh also asked the chief secretary to chalk out an action plan with all stakeholders while ordering that recruitments be completed in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Rohini.

The court was hearing a plea, initiated in 2012 following the gang-rape of a young woman on a bus on December 16, 2012.

On Wednesday, the court was informed by amicus curiae Meera Bhatia that private hospitals have been refusing rape victims, despite court orders. She told the court that a special unit should be constituted to look into crimes against women.

The court also said that the Rs. 3,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund has been lying unused, and can be used for installation of CCTV cameras.

The bench also said efforts be made to make Delhi safe at night. It said that since areas falling under the jurisdiction of 44 police stations are found to be vulnerable to crime, it directed that manpower be increased there and women police officers in plainclothes be deployed so that repeat offenders are brought to book.

“In Mumbai, women can walk freely in night, why can’t it happen in Delhi? We have the best resources and officers in Delhi,” the court remarked.

When Bhatia told the court that all the dark areas should be lit up, the court directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to ensure that all the street lights are operational, failing which the officer concerned should be held responsible and action taken against the officer.

It also said a special task force be constituted and police officers be given motorcycles so they can patrol dark spots in a locality. It asked the police to file an affidavit complying with the court’s direction and for monthly reports.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police filed a status report stating that out of 182, CCTVs have been installed in 179 police stations. Out of 53 police posts, CCTV cameras have been installed in 50, and the remaining three have been converted into police stations and work will complete soon. It said 6,630 cameras were being installed in 44 vulnerable locations in the city.