Nirbhaya’s mother speaks out on Swati Maliwal assault case, wants Delhi CM Kejriwal to act

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi on Wednesday demanded stringent action against the culprits who abused and attacked Swati Maliwal, former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief inside CM Kejriwal’s residence. In an interaction with IANS, Asha Devi spoke about Maliwal’s fight against atrocities on women and lamented that the upright woman, who stood up for rights for other women was subjected to such abominable treatment by ‘those in power’.”If Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal is not safe, then what could one expect about the common women,” Asha Devi said.She further said that she knew Swati Maliwal personally as the latter stood with her in Nirbhaya case and also helped many women in distress.Asha Devi also made an appeal to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to act quickly and take strict action against the one, who attacked Maliwal.When questioned on Kejriwal government’s ‘dilly-dally’ approach to punishing the attacker, she said: “AAP came to power in Delhi while tapping on the anger and outrage of people in Nirbhaya case. Arvind Kejriwal claimed himself to be the son of Delhi, brother of Delhi. It is time for him to walk the talk and take exemplary action.”She also shared the travails of prisoners, especially the women in getting justice and explained how the criminals enjoy benefit of doubt because of discrepancies in jail manuals.”Tihar jail manual has no rights for women prisoners. They are made to suffer because of jail administration’s poorly drafted rules,” she said.She said that the Chief Minister should focus on correcting the rules of jail manual as cases remain stuck in courts for many years and it’s the criminals who benefit majorly from it.She also said that nothing much has changed despite a decade of Nirbhaya episode and common people have to still run from pillar to post for getting justice.Notably, Asha Devi’s 23-year-old daughter, known to the world as ‘Nirbhaya’ was raped and brutally assaulted inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons, including a minor before being thrown out of the bus in 2012.She later succumbed to injuries at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital.–IANSmr/pgh