Srinagar, August 7, 2011: The recent news of a 45 year-old Kashmiri woman having been kidnapped and gang rapped in a south Indian capital Delhi locality has not only again put Delhi on charts of the most unsafe cities in India but also reinstated the fears in the minds of the Kashmiris about the security of their children especially girl students who are studying in Delhi and other metros in India.
Pertinently, a 45 year old woman (her name being withheld) was kidnapped and raped by three men while she was traveling from Delhi Airport to Kalkaji, South Delhi in an auto rickshaw which developed a snag at Dhaula Kuan. The three men had offered her a lift and took her to an unknown destination where they raped her.
This incident which took place on July 29, 2011 has meanwhile, made hundreds of concerned parents in the Kashmir valley furious over the insecurities prevailing in the capital and for many of the young Kashmiri girl students and other professionals living in Delhi all by themselves, the incident has triggered a come back call for them.
“My parents cannot bear to see me working all alone in a place like Delhi anymore. After the news of this unfortunate incident broke down, my parents have been all worried and want me to come back,” said Ambreen Khan, a computer engineer working in Noida.
Delhi, lately had emerged as the choicest destination for many a girl students and young women professionals from Kashmir to pursue their careers, especially due its proximity to the valley. However, the consecutive cases of rapes, eve teasing and molestation bids on the women in Delhi have raised apprehensions among the worried parents and their children.
“It is a daily risk if you are single woman and working in a place like Delhi,” says Sumera who quit her job in an MNC in Gurgaon where she experienced unusual eve teasing frequently at work and even the place she lived in.
“You cannot afford to walk all alone on any road in Delhi past seven in the evening. Then, you invite all sorts of troubles for yourself. Initially, Souh Delhi was considered to be safe but the recent cases of molestation bids and eve teasing in South Delhi localities have even busted this myth,” says Sheema, an MBA student studying at a Delhi institute.
Pertinently, Kashmiris preferred staying in several pockets of South Delhi like Lajpat Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Greater Kailash, Jamia Nagar but now due to unusually high rent for lodging in these areas, girl students and working women, are staying in Delhi’s outskirts.
“Travel nowadays is not a problem due to metro train operating all over the city. However, women here are more susceptible to sexual assaults than any other place. Delhi police clearly has not been of any major help,” says Mehreen, who is a B.A Ist year student at a Delhi University college where a PCR van from Delhi Police guards them round the clock. Even if the education and career concerns are some issues, young women are ready to prefer their security with, for parents such incidents are intolerable and cannot be overlooked.
“I have told my daughter to pack her bags and come back. Being a father, I am worried all the time about her safety. To top it all, you hear news like this which makes us all the more anxious. Even if the standards of education are not at par with those in the rest of the country, but girls are safe here which is the most important thing,” said Muhammad
Amin, a concerned parent. KT-BISMAH MALIK
Kashmiri woman gang-raped in Delhi
New Delhi, August 04, 2011: A 45-year-old Kashmiri woman and was sexually assaulted by three unidentified men in Indian capital New Delhi.
The incident took place on the night of July 29 when the victim was going back to her cousin's house in Kalkaji from Delhi airport. She was kidnapped while returning from New Delhi airport, taken to a house in Malviya Nagar area, police sources said.
Delhi Police may have ensured safety for women in the capital but it seems nothing is visible practical on the ground. In a latest incident, a 45-year-old Kashmiri woman was kidnapped and raped by three unidentified men in Malviya Nagar area of south district.
Police sources told Agence India press that, the incident which took place on the night of July 29 when the victim (identity withheld) was going back to her cousin's house in Kalkaji from Delhi airport.
As per the FIR which has been lodged at the Malviya Nagar police station, the victim was going to Kalkaji in an auto when it developed a snag.
"I took an auto after dropping off my daughter at about 7.30 pm. The auto broke down near Dhaula Kuan road. I got out of the auto to look for another. A white Innova car In the meantime arrived with two persons. The person who was sitting on the front seat next to the driver asked me where I was going and I told him the situation. They offered me a lift," the FIR said.
"I stayed in the car for about 20-25 minutes after which the vehicle stopped near a gate. One of the men got out of the car and forcibly dragged me to the second floor of the house where there was already another person. They raped me there," the FIR report reads.
Police Sources said that the police team reached on the spot after she made a call to PCR. “Our team reached the spot when she made a call to PCR, we went to that house but there was no one in the room and there was no sign of the car," he said.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered in connection with the incident and a probe is on. "We have registered a case and we are expecting some breakthrough soon," a senior police officer, wishing anonymity, told Agence India Press. "We have asked the concerned police officers and other officers to look into the matter and give us results soon".
No trace
The address written in the FIR which the police team checked is JH-37, Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar. A case has been registered in connection with the incident and a probe is on. The victim had come to Delhi to meet her cousin. She is a resident of Kashmir and runs a travel agency there. Police sources said that they have not been able to crack the case yet and senior officials are monitoring it directly. "We have asked the deputy commissioner of police and other officers to look into the matter and give results soon," a senior police officer said, on condition of anonymity.