DCW chief alleges harassment by AAP govt, says she is being forced out

The Delhi Commission for Women chief Barkha Singh made serious allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party government on Wednesday, accusing them of threatening her to force her out of the panel.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women chief Barkha Singh made serious allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party government on Wednesday, accusing them of threatening her to force her out of the panel.

Singh, who has been at loggerheads with the Arvind Kejriwal government over action against law minister Somnath Bharti, accused the government of targeting her as she had not paied heed to their diktats.

“They (AAP) talk of providing safety to women; when Women Commission`s chairperson has to undergo such atrocity,how will other women be secure? They are harassing me,” she said.
“What did I do? I only tried to redress the grievances of the women who came to me. I just did my duty. They are doing just because I summoned Somnath Bharti?” she said.

“It is a constitutional post, only the Lt Governor can remove me. Won`t be scared by such things,will meet LG, demand Somnath Bharti`s arrest,” added Bharkha Singh.

DCW had summoned Bharti over allegations that he had last week led a group of AAP workers on a raid against some African women in south Delhi after claiming they were involved in a drug and prostitution racket.
Bharti had been asked to depose before the commission this afternoon, but he sent his lawyers instead who explained that the law minister was absent due to "some urgencies".

Barkha Singh later warned that if Bharti didn`t appear in person at the DCW office, she would write to Lt Gov, seeking an FIR against him over the alleged misbehaviour with Ugandan women during the midnight raid at Khidki Extension.

AAP, in a statement, has said that it "strongly disapproves of the politicisation of the Delhi Commission for Women by its chairperson".

Somnath Bharti had also accused the DCW of being a political organisation, saying that Barkha Singh`s action was politically motivated as “she was a Congress member”.

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