New Delhi, November 1
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today directed the Delhi Government to pay Rs 25,000 each to 12 African women who were “victims of racial prejudice and unlawful acts” during a midnight raid in the Khirki Extension area in January. The raids were led by the then AAP government’s Law Minister, Somnath Bharti. The commission has directed the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, through its Chief Secretary, to submit a compliance report along with the proof of relief payment within eight weeks. The commission said the then Law Minister, prima facie, violated the provisions of law while holding the constitutional post. The Delhi Police have informed the commission that investigations against Bharti are in the final phase.

The direction has come as an embarrassment to the AAP as it had justified Bharti’s act against the African women.

The development could not have come at a worse time for AAP which is trying to regain its credibility among voters.

An NHRC communiqué states: “After considering reports of Additional District and Sessions Judge BL Garg (retd) and the commission’s investigating team, the NHRC observes that Bharti and his supporters humiliated the African women.”

The then Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti raided houses of African women in Delhi's Khirki Extension area on January 15 night. The African women accused Bharti of barging into their houses and molesting them. They also alleged that he asked them to give urine samples in public and also made them go through cavity search.