Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has suspended two senior officials of the Women and Child Development Department after eight women and a minor girl were reported missing from a shelter home in east Delhi.
The action has been taken after the matter was raised by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is also demanding that the case be transferred to Delhi Police's Crime Branch to ensure a high-level investigation into the matter.
Delhi Police registered an FIR on Sunday, 2 December, in the matter.
In the letter, Sisodia said the Department of Women and Child Development has “failed” in its duty to provide a safe and secure environment for the women and the minor who were placed under protection of the state.
He also said the matter is "extremely serious" and raises a "serious doubt" on the intention of the officers at the Department of Women and Child Development.
"In view of the same, it is directed that the district officer, north east, WCD and Superintendent, SAG Home are immediately placed under suspension and their charge is given to competent and sensitive officers," the letter said.
The DCW, in a statement, claimed that the case was registered on 2 December, almost six months after the girls went missing from Sanskar Ashram at Dilshad Garden in Delhi.
The DCW alleged that they were victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and also claimed that brothel owners might have kidnapped them in "connivance with the Home authorities.”
The women rights body demanded that the matter should be probed thoroughly and said they are writing to Delhi Police, recommending transfer of the case to the Crime Branch so that immediate action is taken on the matter, the statement said.
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