An ailing 87-year-old was raped by a thief in West Delhi and the police told the family not to register a rape case due to the shame factor.
The bedridden 87-year-old woman was allegedly raped and assaulted by a thief in West Delhi and her mobile phone was snatched by a man who entered her house in West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar on Sunday afternoon between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm when the woman’s daughter had stepped out for a post-lunch walk.
She lives with her 65-year-old daughter and was alone at the time. Her grandson has blamed the police for initially discouraging the family from filing a case of rape and instead asked the family to complain about theft instead.
Later, on Monday that the cops added rape to the charges. While police have set up a special investigation team to probe the incident, the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) has issued a notice to Delhi Police about the case.
The grandson told TOI, “I got a call from my wife about her mother informing her of what had happened with grandmother.” He claimed that when his mother-in-law returned home after her walk, she found his maternal grandmother bleeding from her mouth. “My grandmother told my mother-in-law that a man had come to the door claiming to be a gas agency executive but had barged into the house when she told him to come later because nobody was at home at the time,” the grandson said. “He entered the house, hit her, and then proceeded to rape her,” the grandson said.
“While leaving, he snatched her mobile phone and took it with him. When my mother-in-law returned home, she was told what had happened and, taking the help of a neighbor, called the police. Both the women are senior citizens and the cops initially said reporting rape would lead to trouble and embarrassment for them.”
According to the grandson, the police personnel argued that the survivor was an old woman and they would have problems if a case of rape was filed. They reportedly said they did not know what to do, so registered only a case of theft. “Later, I requested a friend of mine to tweet about the incident to force police to take action.
On Monday, the cops finally swung into action and reached our residence to take my grandmother for a medical examination, which was conducted on Monday evening. It is so shocking that such an incident occurred with someone who is as old as she is and is bedridden.”
Police officials did admit that an initial case of theft had been registered, but after new allegations, the provisions of the law regarding rape and causing hurt had also been incorporated in the FIR on Monday.
Meanwhile, DCW chief Swati Maliwal took to Twitter to say, “Delhi Police had called us and informed us about the incident. Our team members reached immediately and were with the woman and police. Counsellors have also been sent to help the victim. I have also issued a notice to Delhi Police in this regard.” (The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault).
It is unfortunate that the victim has to be shamed to the extent that they cannot even make a police complaint and those who do lives can be endangered by the perpetrators. Rape is a serious problem in India, but how each state tackles it will diminish its incidents.
Congress has accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of absconding and said, “Not just the accused but Delhi CM & his entire Govt too has been absconding, leaving people of Delhi in misery, to fend for themselves.”
Not just the accused but Delhi CM & his entire Govt too has been absconding, leaving people of Delhi in misery, to fend for themselves. pic.twitter.com/BJbfblVv18
— Punjab Congress (@INCPunjab) February 15, 2022