DCW defends its action of not acting upon German woman's rape complaint

New Delhi: Amid allegations of sitting over a rape complaint for 15 days filed by the German national, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday said that it was verifying the veracity of the complaint before forwarding it to the police as the email it received was unsigned and did not have the phone number of the victim.

The Commission, instead, has now issued a notice to Delhi Police seeking to know the reason for the delay in registering an FIR which it claimed was leading to harassment of the victim as she was having to continue her stay in Delhi to ensure the same.

"The Commission had received a brief email from the victim on February 5, 2016 and the email was unsigned and did not have the phone number of the victim. In order to verify the veracity of the complaint, the Commission with great effort was able to identify the mobile number of the victim," said the Commission Chairperson Swati Maliwal.

The Commission further said that a DCW Counsellor then spoke to the victim and made efforts to clear her apprehensions and encouraged her to report the facts to the Commission and the Delhi Police.

After several calls, the victim finally informed the Commission that she would come to the Commission on February 19 and requested the Commission that her complaint be registered with the police...and reveal the complete facts to the Commission, said Maliwal.

"Immediately, the Commission sent the girl to the police station along with a DCW Counsellor. The girl's medical examination was also done. However, the police did not register an FIR and instead, on the third day after reporting the incident to them, the police handed over a long questionnaire consisting of around 150 questions to the victim," said Maliwal.

"Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation," she said.

The Commission issued a notice to the police to explain why an FIR was not being registered.

"Delay in registering an FIR was leading to harassment of the victim as she was having to continue her stay in Delhi to ensure the same. It was sad that the Commission is being blamed for 'sitting on a complaint' when it is because of the persistence of the Commission that the victim was able to properly and comfortably report her case to the Police," Maliwal said.