New Delhi/Kanpur, Apr 20 : Political leaders and NGO activists today slammed the Delhi Police ACP B S Ahlawat for slapping a girl protesting against the brutal sexual assault of a five-year-old girl outside a hospital.
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said, mere suspension of the ACP was not enough. A case should be filed against the policemen who slapped and insulted the protesters, she said in Visakhapatnam.
"It is clear that even after all the assurances, the capital is not safe for women and girls", Brinda Karat said.
Neelam Katara, who spearheaded the fight for justice by Uphaar tragedy victims for 16 long years, said, even senior police officers need to be given training how to behave with women. "I have been saying since long that the Delhi Police Commissioner must be changed", she added.
"Delhi needs two kinds of police : one for the VVIPs and the other for common man (Aam Aadmi)", Katara said. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit must recommend removal of the Police Comissioner.
BJP leader and lawyer Meenakshi Lekhi said, if the system is not addressing the grievances of the people, then somebody needs to come and address it. She described the work mechanism of Delhi Police as thoroughly unprofessional.
Barkha Singh, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women and Congress leader, described the slapping incident as "unfortunate". "The police officer should not have done that. We will meet the Police Commissioner", she said.
Delhi Health Minister Dr A K Walia described how while entering the hospital, some girls came forward and tried to attack him. "The staff present there took me to the ICU, and I spoke to the victim's parents who wanted the child to be taken to AIIMS", he said.
Dr Walia said, the best possible treatment would be given to the girl, and there is also need to change the manner in which Delhi Police functions.
He also criticized the Aam Aadmi Party, which had been leading the protests, for trying to create problems instead of doing positive work. "They just protest with black flags and act negatively", he added.
In Kanpur, CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali alleged that Delhi Police tried to offer money to the parents of the girl to hush up the case.
"Most of the Delhi Police personnel are there to protect the VVIPs. But the life of a five-year-old girl is more precious than that of a VIP", she added. Every day, a new incident of sexual assault and brutality is coming up, Ali said. "We don't know how much we are going to protest", she said.
