New Delhi, February 7
A 24-year-old girl from West Bengal was allegedly raped by four men at a property dealer's office in the Burari area of north Delhi last night.

The four men were apprehended when they were planning to drop the victim in her house in Rohini. According to a police officer, their car was stopped by the policemen who were at a picket in Burari. The accused panicked and sped away. A police control room (PCR) vehicle chased them and intercepted their car in Burari.

"The woman then told the cops that she was raped by the four men," added the officer. The accused are named Mohammed Shakeel, Mohammed Irshad, Mohammed Abid, all in the age group of 22 to 24 years, and Lajpat Rai Sachdeva (43).

The officer said the woman knew Abid who is a scrap dealer. "She became acquainted with him when she met him at his shop," said the officer.

The woman was taken to the Burari police station where a case was registered on the basis of her complaint. The case was later transferred to the Swaroop Nagar police station as the building where the woman was allegedly gangraped falls under its jurisdiction.

Another officer said Abid took the victim to the property dealer's office in Burari. Sachdeva is the caretaker of the office, while Shakeel works as a tailor and Irshad does odd jobs. Abid allegedly raped her there. Later, his three friends came to the office and they also allegedly raped her. The incident occurred between 8 pm and 2 am.

After the act, they took the victim in their car to drop her in her house in Rohini. She stayed there with an acquaintance from her village in West Bengal. "She had arrived in Delhi about two months ago. She does not work anywhere," added the officer. 

New Delhi, February 7
Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh has instructed the Transport Department, Delhi Government, to ensure that all the public transport vehicles should have GPS devices before April for better safety of women in the national Capital.

Singh said the Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster buses and 12,000 autorickshaws are equipped with GPS devices that are connected to the Centralised Control Room.

A meeting of the special task force (STF) headed by Singh on the safety issues of women in Delhi was held last week. During the meeting, the Delhi police informed the STF that the number of lines for the helpline, 100, has been increased from 60 to 100. The number of lines of the helpline 1091, meant for women in distress, has been increased from two to 10. The anti-stalking helpline, 1096, will be merged with 1091, increasing the total number of lines to 14.

The police also said that Women Help Desks at police stations across the Capital are fully operational. The Delhi Commission for Women said that it has prepared a list of volunteers and would deploy them at the desks in consultation with the Delhi police.

New Delhi, February 7
A day after three reported deaths due to H1N1 influenza and 60 confirmed cases of the viral disease surfaced in the Capital, 17 government and five private hospitals were identified today for isolation care and treatment facility for suspected and diagnosed cases of the flu.

In this regard, following a review meeting attended by top health officials and medical superintendents of the hospitals concerned, the Delhi Health Minister Dr AK Walia directed all the designated hospitals to gear up for timely management and treatment of such cases with ICU facilities.

The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Patel Chest Institute along with five private laboratories will carry out the diagnosis of the H1N1 cases, Dr Walia said while instructing the health officials to launch a public awareness campaign to tackle the disease.

Issuing instructions regarding equipping the hospitals with intensive care facilities, he directed the hospitals to have a nodal officer for H1N1 cases so that the patients receive immediate attention.

"During January and February this year, 60 cases of H1N1 have been reported and three patients have died. Keeping in view the growing incidence of H1N1, there is immediate need for gearing up arrangements. Though there is no need to panic as the hospitals are well prepared," he said.

Cautioning people from ignoring symptoms such as high grade fever, respiratory problem, chest pain and blood in sputum, he said symptoms must be reported within first 48 hours.

New Delhi, February 7
Going beyond the Justice JS Verma Committee recommendations, women groups and legal activists today demanded a comprehensive legislation to deal with sexual crimes against women--one that spells out justice through a time-bound trial and ensures complete rehabilitation of the victims.

To them the recent ordinance lacks teeth and to make their resentment louder, they carried a protest rally from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar during which they called for a special joint session of Parliament to discuss the issue.

At the venue, there were student groups from Jawaharlal Nehru University too who exhorted womenfolk to board the last bus home tonight to assert for their right to have a secured space in the national Capital.

"The ordinance is fragmented and we want a comprehensive law which covers all aspects and even the Justice Verma Committee has not touched many aspects that women groups have recommended to the Standing Committee," remarked general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), Sudha Sundararaman.

National Federation of Indian Women's general secretary Annie Raja said, "We are not averse to an ordinance, but keeping it gender-neutral has given a blow to the demands of all women organisations for a women-friendly system."

AIDWA's vice president Jagmati Sangwan said very often even the top police officials are insensitive in their approach when they put objectionable questions to the rape victims. The ordinance has neglected the victim's rights.

In their proposals to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs, women groups have pushed for complete rehabilitation and relief for the rape victims.