The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken “serious” cognisance of the alleged gang-rape and trafficking of a minor girl in Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan and directed the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of the district to submit a comprehensive Action Taken Report within 15 days.
The commission said that such an incident reflects point to administrative lapses, policing gaps, and inadequate monitoring mechanisms that allowed such criminal activities to continue and sought a crackdown against illegal hotels.
According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the local police, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly held captive and gang-raped by more than 30 men over a span of five days. The brutal ordeal took place across several local hotels in the district. The police launched a swift crackdown, arresting a number of hotel owners and managers directly connected to the case. The revelation of the crime has triggered widespread outrage and protests across the district.
NCW holds a hearing
On Wednesday the NCW conducted a hearing in the matter, which was attended by Amit Yadav, District Magistrate; Harishankar, Superintendent of Police; Deepak Kumar, Head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Additional Superintendent of Police; and Jogendra Kaushik, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee (CWC), according to an official statement by the commission.
During the hearing, NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar expressed deep concern over the lapses and directed the District Magistrate to identify and take strict enforcement action against all unregistered and unauthorised hotels and establishments operating in the district within 15 days.
The Superintendent of Police was also directed to conduct an accountability assessment regarding the failure of local policing mechanisms, including patrol and monitoring systems, which failed to detect the trafficking and repeated sexual abuse of the minor.
The commission also took serious note of the delay in presenting the victim before the Child Welfare Committee, which amounted to a violation of statutory provisions.
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