Delhi HC seeks report on rescue operations of girls

The Delhi High Court directed the city government to apprise it of the operations carried out to rescue those girls engaged in flesh trade.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the city government to apprise it of the operations carried out to rescue those girls engaged in flesh trade.

"We seek information as to the number of rescue operations carried out between January 2012 till date," a bench of acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru said.

The order of the court came on a petition which was filed after the court suo motu took cognizance of a newspaper article about the failure of the Delhi Police to register an FIR on the charge of gang-rape after a teenage girl from West Bengal was rescued from a brothel in May.

The court today asked the Delhi Police to file a status report in four weeks informing it if an FIR has been registered in the case against the accused and whether the FIR has resulted in completion of the investigation.

The court had earlier called for a response on the issue from the city government. It today issued court notice to counsel Pawan Sharma to represent the state in the matter.

As per the media report, a 19-year-old girl was rescued on May 9 by the police from a brothel at GB Road and police did not deem it fit to register a gang-rape case. The girl was sent by a local court to Nari Niketan.

The court today also sought to know about the status of the girl who was rescued from the brothel.

At this, the court was told by the amicus curiae Zubeda Begum that the girl is now in the safe custody of his parents in their hometown.

The court was also told that another girl, a native of Nepal who was rescued, is still at Nari Niketan as the identity of her guardians could not be ascertained.

PTI

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