Separate cell for women in Tihar jail: Delhi government tells High Court

The city government  told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that there are separate police lock-ups for women detainees in order to protect them from "sexual abuse" and "ill-treatment".

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw was apprised by Delhi government's standing counsel Zubeda Begum that Tihar jail has a separate cell for women and is managed by a lady officer. She further said pregnant and ailing women are given proper food and treatment in the cell.

The counsel said Tihar jail officials, especially women, look after the children of female inmates too. "The children who are six-year-old or above are sent to school and kept in hostel with consent of the mother," she said, adding Jail no.6 is exclusively meant for women detainees and their affairs are being handled by a lady officer.

Delhi government's response came during hearing of a PIL filed by advocate Avadh Kaushik, which said there was an urgent need to bring down the sexual abuse, harassment, ill-treatment and torture committed upon women detainees in police lock-ups.

Citing a Supreme Court judgement, the petitioner pointed to two separate criminal cases registered in Rohini, where women were arrested by policemen at night without proper permission from the magistrate courts concerned.

He said they were arrested by male police personnel and were not produced before the magistrate courts concerned immediately but were produced the next day. In both cases, the women alleged they were sexually abused, harassed, humiliated and tortured at the hands of male police personnel in the police lock-up, the plea said.