I am a daughter of India, and I am posing this question as a representative of all the daughters of India: Can you ensure our safety? The promises made by the Prime Minister through various schemes, as well as those made by leaders who came before him, have repeatedly emphasized our safety. Yet, in our country, the sad truth remains that the easiest thing to violate is our safety. What happens when the person entrusted with your care fails to protect not just your safety but your innocence as well? What happens when the very individual responsible for Women and Child Welfare becomes the perpetrator, assaulting a minor girl under his care? Recent revelations have shaken the core of the Delhi government’s Woman and Child Development Department. A senior officer named Premoday Khakha is now facing accusations of engaging in inappropriate conduct with a minor girl, exposing a breach of trust that has sparked grave concerns about the safety of minors within close-knit circles. According to reports, these distressing events unfolded between 2020 and 2021, prompting a thorough investigation and resulting in the recent detention of both the accused officer and his wife by the Delhi Police. What began as a seemingly innocent friendship between the officer and the victim’s family, spanning several years, took a distressing turn following the passing of the girl’s father in 2020. The senior officer’s actions allegedly escalated in an apparent show of support during a time of mourning, leading to a series of events that shattered the victim’s trust and left her in a vulnerable state. Astonishingly, the girl’s mother, placing trust in their longstanding relationship, remained unaware of the alleged abuse her daughter was purportedly enduring. The alleged misconduct persisted for months, eventually culminating in the victim’s reported pregnancy in 2021. At this juncture, the accused officer is believed to have involved his wife, who stands accused of both threatening the victim and procuring abortion pills to terminate the pregnancy. However, the victim’s ordeal did not end there. Battling health issues, she returned to her mother’s care, only for subsequent medical examinations to uncover the extent of her trauma β both the physical and emotional scars that will undoubtedly require time to heal. The incident came to light when the girl, grappling with anxiety attacks, disclosed these horrifying acts to her counselor during a session at St. Stephen’s Hospital, where she was admitted after her attacks. This triggered an ongoing investigation into both the senior officer and his wife. The victim’s statement, serving as a painful narrative of repeated abuse, has been documented, underscoring the severity of the situation. As the legal process unfolds, the victim is receiving essential medical care and counseling to aid her on the path to recovery. These allegations transcend an individual case; they lay bare systemic concerns about child safety and protection. The incident necessitates a comprehensive assessment of the efficacy of existing measures to shield children, particularly within contexts built on trust. It serves as a stark reminder of the urgent necessity for profound reforms to prevent the recurrence of such heinous misconduct. In the latest developments on this matter, Swati Maliwal, the Chief of the Delhi Commission of Women, visited the minor girl currently admitted to the hospital. In a video shared on her Twitter account, she can be seen participating in a protest and expressing that during her visit, the hospital guard denied her entry to meet the victim, citing orders from the police. In the video, she said, βFor the past half an hour, the hospital administration has been preventing me from meeting the minor victim. The guards are saying that the police have forbidden it. What is happening? Initially, they weren’t arresting the accused, and now they are stopping me from seeing the girl. Does the Delhi Police want to hide something?β The allegations against the senior officer within the Delhi government’s Woman and Child Development Department reveal an intensely disconcerting reality of potential child abuse and exploitation.
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