BJP today held a protest outside Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence here over the incident of self-immolation by a former DU employee who had alleged sexual harassment by a college principal, even as the city government ordered a probe into the case.
The probe will be conducted by Higher Education director S P Dixit, who has been asked to submit report to the government within three weeks. The college is funded by the Delhi government.
"The incident highlights the inaccessibility and insensitivity of the Delhi government in addressing concerns of women in the city," Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel said, while leading the protest.
"It is well-known that the Delhi University lab attendant had to run from pillar to post to lodge complaints of sexual harassment against her. But, no one from the Delhi government responded to her complaints," Goel claimed.
"It is shocking that despite the victim taking such an extreme step, neither the Delhi Chief Minister nor anyone else from her government came forward to the victim's help. This government has become completely insensitive to people's problems, especially when it comes to the issue of women's safety," he alleged.
When asked about the incident, Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said the Chief Minister had taken up the issue with Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi and Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh.
"Without a thorough probe, we cannot say whether the complainant was right or wrong. The Chief Minister has already spoken to the Delhi University Vice Chancellor and Delhi Police Commissioner," he said.
The 35-year-old former lab assistant had doused herself with kerosene and set herself on fire at gate number 6 of the Delhi Secretariat. She had sustained 92 per cent burns and was taken to LNJP Hospital where she died yesterday.
Police had recovered a purported suicide note from the spot in which she had said she was taking the extreme step to protest alleged physical and mental harassment by Principal G K Arora and another staff of Bhim Rao Ambedkar College in Yamuna Vihar. She was sacked from the college two years ago.
