After visiting three night shelters and spending a night at one of them, Delhi Commission for Women chairperson is all set to send a notice to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for lapses.
“Night shelters in the city are extremely unsafe for women. Delhi needs better night shelters, not a ‘night life’,” DCW chairperson, Swati Maliwal said. Along with DCW member Sarika Chaudhary and two other volunteers, she visited three night shelters in Nizamuddin and Jama Masjid area, spent Saturday night at Jama Masjid night shelter. “In the past 10 days, the locals have complained about many children going missing. A four-year-old girl went missing from a night shelter three days ago and hasn’t been found yet,” she said, adding that she would seek a report from the police on the missing children in the area.
“The toilets are very few and no separate toilets for women were there. Male and female night shelters are adjacent to each other in the same complex, with no security restrictions,” she pointed out. Water scarcity in the shelters is another big issue.
In the Jama Masjid Night Shelter, there is only one woman caretaker. Rest are all male guards.
“Male guards in the night kept coming inside the shelter. Women told us that they couldn’t sleep in the night fearing harassment.”
At the Family Shelter in Jama Masjid, the team was surprised as no separation was there between families, not even a simple veil was put up. There were no CCTV cameras. “None of the high mast lights in the Jama Masjid area between the two shelters were working,” she said.
Because women don’t feel safe inside the shelter, in Jama Masjid area, several women were sleeping outside. “A mentally challenged woman was sleeping outside. Other residents of the shelter had thrown her out. We tried to get the lady inside the shelter as she also had a month old baby. We also met an acid attack victim sleeping in the open. Many of the women we met were drug addicts,” she said.
