DCW Issues Summons to 125 Brothels in Delhi’s GB Road

The rights body received the details of the owners from various agencies.

Image used for representational purpose. 

(Photo Courtesy: Reuters)

Seeking closure of brothels on GB Road, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday issued summons to 125 owners asking them to appear before it.

The rights body received details of the owners from various agencies, but was provided different names for the same brothels which made it difficult to identify the real owners.

Therefore, brothel owners have been asked to appear before the Commission from 21-24 September, along with their original identity and address proof, said a senior DCW official.

Summons to those owners, who refused to receive them, were pasted on the walls of the brothels, the official said. Earlier, the commission had constituted a committee under the chairpersonship of DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal and comprising senior officials of Delhi Police, North MCD, District Magistrate, Delhi Jal Board, Fire Department and representatives of prominent NGOs.

A DCW team lead by Legal Counselor Princy Goel and Mobile Helpline Coordinator Kiran Negi served the summons to the owners of brothels.

The GB Road has become a hub for human trafficking, especially of minor girls who are brought here from different parts of the country, are subjected to rapes and kept in extremely inhuman conditions and are exploited to the extreme

DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal

Till date, the real owners of these brothels have not been identified and during raids, brothel managers are arrested by the police, Maliwal said.

"This gory business has been ongoing merely three kilometers away from the Indian Parliament and there is no doubt that there is active connivance of system. This are the initial steps of the commission in its pursuit to ensure closure of the brothels at GB Road," Maliwal added.