A city court has ordered registration of FIR against unknown persons in connection with the midnight raid against African women by a group after Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti accused the foreign nationals of being involved in drugs and prostitution.
Metropolitan Magistrate Chetna Singh directed that video footage of the incident in south Delhi last week be shown to the foreign nationals for identification.
The FIR will be filed against those identified by the foreign nationals, the magistrate told PTI .
Television footage on news channels had shown Mr. Bharti asking police officers to conduct the raid, saying he had received complaints of drugs and prostitution racket in that area.
The women have in their complaint said that they were assaulted by the group which had barged into their house.
Rakesh Sherawat, lawyer for the women, said the minister and his associates were involved in the incident. He said the women can identify the persons through video footage and newspaper clippings.
The court has ordered the registration of FIR against the persons under sections 451 (house trespass), 427 (mischief), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of IPC.
The women -- two Nigerians and two Ugandans -- had approached the court on Saturday with the application seeking registration of FIR before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vivek Golia, who refused to accept the application and directed them to approach the police for the same.
The magistrate told them that in case police turns down their request, they can file an appropriate application before this court.
The four women along with their counsels had on Saturday filed fresh application on which the court has ordered lodging of case.
The women have alleged in their petition that they were subjected to a cavity search during their medical examination at AIIMS, which was a humiliating experience. They also alleged that the minister and his people had asked them in public to give urine samples.
The women had earlier approached the Malviya Nagar Police Station seeking action against the men who had allegedly roughed them between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the intervening night of January 15-16.
When asked about the matter, Mr. Bharti said, “The whole incident would have been recorded by the TV cameras present there. I don’t think any of our workers hit anyone there or said anything to anyone“.
“We are the people who get beaten up and abused. We do not abuse anyone,” Bharti said.
“The second thing and the biggest mistake being made by everyone is that no one is paying attention to the problem of drugs which is ruining our youth,” the Minister said.
Mr. Bharti said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will release some information later “which will have many facts.
“A prostitution racket is being carried out her. Nobody is paying attention to that,” he alleged
“When the truth will be presented, everything will become clear,” he added.
