Delhi minor rape case: DCW chief stopped from meeting victim

New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday claimed that she was stopped from meeting the minor victim who was sexually assaulted by a now suspended city government official, and said that she spent the night outside the hospital where the girl has been admitted.

In a tweet in Hindi, Maliwal said: "Since 12 noon yesterday (Monday), I am sitting outside the hospital to meet the victim girl or her family. Slept outside the hospital at night. NCPCR can be introduced to the girl's mother, so why have I been asked to stop? What are you trying to hide?"

Earlier on Monday, the Delhi Police had arrested the accused and his wife after questioning them for several hours at their residence in the national capital.

The accused was identified as Premoday Khakha, a 51-year-old deputy director in the Woman and Child Development Department of the Delhi government.

Khakha has been accused of repeatedly raping the class 12 girl between 2020 and 2021.

She had met the accused at a church. In 2020, the victim's father had died, after which she got into depression.

The accused, who had already befriended her, took her to his house on the pretext of helping her.

The girl told the police that between October 2020 and February 2021, when she was with her "guardian" who lived in Burari, she was raped several times.

An FIR of rape read with sections of the POCSO Act was lodged against the accused and his wife.