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First DCW, then Najeeb Jung: Delhi police receive 2 summons in a day
Delhi Police on Tuesday received two summonses by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and another from the office of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung.
Delhi Police on Tuesday received two summonses by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and another from the office of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung.
While the women’s panel summoned police commissioner BS Bassi for not submitting data on crimes against women in the Capital, Jung’s office asked the department to explain the manhandling of students protesting the alleged suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula by its personnel.
Jung summoned joint commissioner of police (central range) SK Gautam, who is heading the investigation into the alleged beating of a group of students by some police personnel, and sought an explanation from him.
The students had gathered outside the RSS office at Jhandewalan in central Delhi on January 30 demanding justice for Rohith, the 26-year-old University of Hyderabad’s research scholar whose suicide last month triggered anger and protests among all across the country. The demonstration was organised by the Joint Action Committee For Social Justice.
A video, shared by students on social media, shows police officers cane-charging the protesting students. In the one-minute clip, apart from the police, some men in plain clothes can also be seen beating them. A constable is seen dragging a female protester by her hair and pushing her down.
Gautam said he is inquiring the circumstances leading to the ‘mild lathicharge’. He said he is also recording the statements of all officials including the Paharganj SHO who was present at the spot when the incident happened.
The JNU students’ union and some other groups organised a protest on Tuesday against the incident at the Delhi Police Headquarters.
The DCW summon to Bassi came after Delhi Police failed to submit data on crimes against women which happened in the past five months.
“The commission takes strong note of the fact that despite sending various letters and notices and despite passage of several months, you have unjustifiably failed to provide crucial information sought by the Commission, which is imperative for the Commission on the issue of women’s safety and safeguards for women in Delhi,” the summon read.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal said she had raised the issue of non-receipt of data during a meeting on women’s safety convened by LG Jung in November last year. A similar concern was also raised in another meeting of the special task force on women’s safety held in the ministry of home affairs in December, 2015.
Maliwal told HT that several reminders were sent to the police department to submit the required documents.
“We received replies to the reminders as well where the department assured us speedy submission. But we are still waiting for documents. We have also asked the department to explain the unreasonable delay in furnishing the information,” she said.
According to the summon, Bassi will have to appear before the DCW on February 8 at 4pm and explain the causes of delay in providing the information.
