DCW sends notice to Tihar DG after woman doctor alleges molestation by prisoner

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued a notice to the Tihar Jail authorities, seeking a report on a woman doctor’s allegations that she was molested by a convict at the prison health care facility. On a complaint filed the doctor with it, the Commission sought to know why the order of DG (Prison) that mandates jail staff to accompany woman doctors visiting male jails was not followed in this case. [caption id=“attachment_2462704” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “Please provide the status of implementation of the said order including the list of employees responsible for ensuring the security of women staff, along with their duties…the complainant has alleged that the said order was not followed at the time of the incident. Please inform the Commission the reasons for the same,” DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said in her letter to Tihar Jail Director General Alok Kumar Verma. Maliwal also asked the Tihar Jail authorities to provide information regarding the number of woman doctors, nurses and other female staff deployed in male prisons and also sought the reasons for appointing them. Further, the DCW chief said the doctor in her complaint has informed that she had reported similar incidents but no action was taken and asked the DG to submit a detailed action taken report. The Commission has also asked the authorities to provide copies of the complaints regarding sexual harassment received by them from women employees since 2012 till date, along with the action taken report. “Further the complainant has informed the Commission that when her husband approached the Tihar Jail Superintendent to complain about the incident, the Superintendent displayed insensitivity… not deputing any jail staff to accompany the complainant to the police station to file an FIR. “This allegation is extremely serious. Please ascertain the facts of the matter and provide the Commission a detailed status report on the same. Also provide details of the policy adopted at present to deal with such complaints,” the Commission said. A complaint has been filed at Hari Nagar police station. The accused has been identified as 35-year-old Gurmeet, who was awarded life sentence last year in a murder case. PTI