CWC Issues Notices to Delhi Cops Over 7-Hour Jurisdiction Row at Kashmere Gate
The Delhi Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has issued show-cause notices to three police officers after a 15-year-old runaway girl rescued at Kashmere Gate was allegedly made to wait for nearly seven hours due to a jurisdictional dispute among Delhi Police personnel.
In an order dated August 12, the committee took a serious view of the incident, directing the station house officers of Kashmere Gate and Kashmere Gate Metro police stations, along with the in-charge of the ISBT police post, to appear before it on August 19 with written explanations and action-taken reports.
According to the CWC order, the teenager left her home in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on August 9 without informing her parents and reached Old Delhi Railway Station by train later that night. She later moved towards Jama Masjid and Kashmere Gate. On August 11, around 12:30 pm, an unidentified man allegedly tried to lure her with an offer of employment. A passerby, identified as Raja, rescued the girl and handed her over to the Child Helpline booth at Kashmere Gate at around 4:30 pm.
Helpline staff contacted the police emergency number 112 between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. When personnel from the Kashmere Gate police station, the ISBT police post, and the Kashmere Gate Metro police station arrived, they reportedly shifted jurisdiction between themselves. The jurisdictional argument caused the minor to be kept waiting until midnight, and she was eventually moved to an observation home at around 2:30 am on August 12.
The CWC also noted allegations that the in-charge of the ISBT police post behaved in an inappropriate and threatening manner toward Child Helpline staff, refusing to acknowledge the girl's written statement. In addition, the committee questioned an attempt by police to bypass mandatory child protection procedures by seeking to hand the girl directly to her parents at the observation home rather than producing her before the CWC.
The girl underwent a medical examination and was provided shelter. When produced before the CWC, she identified her father and asked to return home. The committee declared the father a fit guardian and ordered her restored to her family, conditional on an undertaking ensuring her care, education, and safety. The CWC also directed child welfare authorities in Saharanpur to submit a follow-up report within a month.
