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UN peacekeepers face new sex abuse allegations in CAR

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Three more accusations levelled against peacekeepers in CAR a week after Ban Ki-Moon asked UN head of mission to resign.

UN peacekeepers earlier had been accused of sexually abusing children in Bangui and in the eastern part of the country [AP]

UN peacekeepers earlier had been accused of sexually abusing children in Bangui and in the eastern part of the country [AP]

by Al Jazeera

Three young females, including a minor, have accused United Nations peacekeepers of raping them in the Central African Republic, the global body has announced, taking the number of allegations to 13 since the UN stationed troops in the country in September.

The announcement on Wednesday comes a week after Ban Ki-Moon, UN secretary-general, removed the head of the peacekeeping mission in CAR over the handling of a series of similar allegations in the conflict-wracked country.

Vannina Maestracci, spokesperson for the secretary general’s office, told reporters that families of the three young females made the allegations on August 12 and that the alleged rapes occurred in “recent weeks”.

Similarly, a statement from the peacekeeping mission said UN headquarters was “immediately informed” of the allegations and that it was collecting “all available evidence”.

The alleged rapes occurred in the city of Bambari, where peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are stationed.

The CAR is still battling daily clashes between rival militias in the country’s hinterlands [Reuters]

Congo’s UN ambassador, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, told The Associated Press news agency that three members of Congo’s military have been accused and that he had just met with UN officials about looking into the allegations.

He didn’t address the allegations but said it’s “not normal” that vulnerable people would be victims of those meant to protect them.

Congo’s troops serve in no other UN peacekeeping missions, and its nearly 900 troops were accepted into the mission in CAR at a time when few countries were volunteering people to serve in the chaotic country, which has been ripped by unprecedented violence between Christians and Muslims.

Last August, the New York-based Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said Congo’s troops, which were already in the country as part of an African Union mission, should be excluded from the UN mission.

The advocacy network pointed out that Congo’s armed forces have been noted in Ban’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence. They were included again this year.

Last week, following the removal of the head of the CAR peacekeeping mission, Ban met with the Security Council and the heads of all UN peacekeeping missions to discuss new measures to swiftly investigate alleged sexual assaults and hold peacekeepers accountable.

Ban’s actions came after Amnesty International accused UN peacekeepers in CAR’s capital this month of indiscriminately killing a 16-year-old boy and his father and, in a separate incident, of raping a 12-year-old girl.

UN peacekeepers earlier had been accused of sexually abusing children in Bangui and in the eastern part of the country.

The peacekeeping mission is also being investigated over how it handled child sexual abuse allegations against French troops last year, in which children as young as nine said they had traded sex for food.

Maestracci, the UN spokeswoman, said that so far, the peacekeeping mission has received 13 allegations of possible sexual abuse and exploitation since UN troops began arriving last year.

Under an agreement with the UN, countries have the sole responsibility to prosecute their troops taking part in peacekeeping missions, but if they take no action to investigate, the UN can step in. Even then, the UN only has the power to repatriate troops and suspend payments to countries for troops who are accused.

In at least one case of alleged sexual abuse or exploitation by a peacekeeper in CAR, a country repatriated its accused citizen, the UN said.

Around 2.7 million people, more than half the population, are still in need of aid, while 1.5 million people were affected by food insecurity [AFP]

Pakistan police officers held in child-abuse probe

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Three officers transferred amid scandal over abuse of hundreds of children for nearly a decade in Punjab province.

People have protested in the wake of the scandal calling for action against perpetrators [AFP]

People have protested in the wake of the scandal calling for action against perpetrators [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

Three Pakistani police officers have been transferred to other districts over accusations of negligence amid a deepening scandal over a paedophile ring alleged to have abused hundreds of children for nearly a decade, officials say.

A prominent family in the central Punjabi village of Husain Khan Wala allegedly used guns, knives and axes to force children – some as young as five – to perform sex acts on video, which they then sold or used to extort money from the victims’ families, villagers said.

This weekend, the prime minister pledged an investigation after Pakistani media covered protests by parents claiming that police in the district of Kasur had not investigated their complaints.

The officers were removed from their posts “for their negligence on the Kasur sex scandal”, Nabeela Ghazanfar, a spokesperson for the provincial police, told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

Rai Babar, the district police chief, and two deputy superintendents were reassigned out of the district. Police in Pakistan are rarely sacked.

Parents told Reuters that police had refused to register some complaints and treated some of the victims “like criminals”.

The police have arrested 14 suspects so far. Seven cases have been registered against them for alleged sodomy, kidnapping and torture, Muhammad Amin, a police official, said.

The accused would be tried in an anti-terrorism court, Amin said. Law enforcement officials frequently use the anti-terror courts to bypass Pakistan’s moribund judicial system.

On Monday, opposition politicians criticised the ruling party over the scandal in Punjab, the country’s biggest and wealthiest province and the political heartland of the ruling party.

Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab’s chief minister and the brother of the prime minister, said on Tuesday that he was “personally monitoring” the case.

“We will not let anyone involved in this incident escape the law and justice. All victims and their families will be provided every possible assistance to identify culprits without any fear,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.

Parents in Kasur have protested that police in the district in Punjab did not investigate their complaints [The Associated Press]

Pakistan stumbles upon its ‘biggest’ child abuse case

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Shock and anger as police discovers 400 video recordings of more than 280 children being forced to have sex in Punjab.

People have protested in the wake of the scandal calling for action against perpetrators [AFP]

People have protested in the wake of the scandal calling for action against perpetrators [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

Officials in the Pakistani state of Punjab have called for a federal inquiry into what it called the largest-ever child abuse case in the South Asian country’s history involving nearly 300 children.

The government of Punjab state on Sunday ordered a judicial investigation into the case that came to light last week after discovery of about 400 video recordings of more than 280 children being forced to have sex.

“Those involved in the case will be severely punished. They will not be able to escape their fate. The affected families will be provided with justice at any cost,” Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper website.

So far seven people have been reportedly arrested by the police over the case that has shocked the nation of 180 million.

Most of the victims were under 14, including a six-year-old boy, Rai Babar Saeed, district police chief of Kasur, where the incident happened, told reporters, adding that a 10-year-old schoolgirl was filmed being molested by a 14-year-old boy.

Videos of these assaults were filmed and thousands of copies are believed to have been sold in Hussain Khanwala village in Kasur district, the police said.

One of the victims said he was injected in the spine with a drug before he was assaulted, they added.

Government in denial

The scale of the scandal emerged earlier this week after the victims’ parents clashed with the police during a protest against their failure to prosecute the men who orchestrated the scandal.

Pakistan experienced a similar tragedy in the late 1990s, when 100 children were sexually abused and murdered in Lahore by Javed Iqbal Mughal, a serial killer.

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from Islamabad, said that a gang of 25 men were involved in the crime, coordinating it.

“Some of the victims’ families started to speak up. This is creating a lot of controversy in Pakistan,” she said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Tahira Abdullah, a human rights activist in Islamabad, said that the government is “in denial” about the abuses.

“I think Pakistan is failing its children,” she said, adding that the stigma about the cases, and the lack of trust in the court system, have prevented the arrest and persecution of abusers.

RK Pachauri removed as TERI chief

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rkpachauri

Bengaluru: Controversial TERI chief R K Pachauri, who is facing sexual harrassment charges, was today removed as the Director General of the green body.

Ajay Mathur, currently Director General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has been appointed as the new DG in a decision taken at the governing Council (GC) meeting of TERI here.

“The Governing Council (GC) of TERI at its meeting held in Bangalore took a decision to appoint Ajay Mathur as the Director General of TERI.

“Mathur will take up his new responsibilities as soon as he is in a position to do so, subsequent to being relieved from his current responsibilities by the Government of India after a brief period of transition,” an official TERI release said.

On February 13 this year, an FIR was registered against 74-year old Pachauri faces charges of sexual harassment levelled by a senior TERI employee. A Delhi court had granted anticipatory bail to Pachauri.

Earlier, on February 26, the court had restrained Pachauri from entering TERI office premises and contacting its officials. It had asked him not to leave the country and also granted him interim protection from arrest till March 27.

Pachauri was on Friday allowed by a Delhi court to enter his office premises except the head office and a branch in Gurgaon.

The TERI statement said that the GC also considered the question of any action that could be taken on the report of TERI’s Internal Complaints Committee on the issue of alleged sexual harassment.

“Action on this report has been stayed by the Court, which ruled ‘the operation of the report of the Internal Complaints Committee shall remain stayed.’

“This judgment of May 29, 2015 also stated ‘the principles of natural justice have not been followed at all by the said committee, contrary to rules.’ The GC of TERI respects all court proceedings and abides by its direction” the statement said.

The GC observed that the issue of succession to the current leadership of TERI was first discussed in detail by the GC meeting held in Mumbai in September, 2014.

Subsequently, a well-known search firm was entrusted with the task of carrying out a search of candidates for the position, which they performed pro bono and provided the GC with a slate of candidates short listed by them.

A further search was carried out involving all the members of the GC, who interacted individually with several eligible candidates and evaluated senior staff currently working at TERI as well as those who had extensive experience of working in this organization.

“The decision to appoint Ajay Mathur is, therefore, the culmination of an extensive search process and an intensive evaluation of candidates from across the globe,” the statement said.

The statement said that Pachauri has led and built TERI over the last 34 years from a concept to a major, financially autonomous, professionally dynamic organization on the global stage.

“All efforts will be made to aid and assist Ajay Mathur in a smooth and expeditious transition as the latter assumes responsibility as TERI’s new chief executive.

“The GC is certain that the 1200 persons working for TERI in different parts of the world would welcome this development and extend all their support towards a smooth transition and ensuring that this unique Indian organization with a global presence and universal reach attains greater heights in the future,” it said.

Noting that the interests of TERI and its talented staff are paramount, the statement said that the GC members also expressed deep confidence in their dedication and the leadership of the institute.

Mathur has worked in leadership positions in the World Bank in Washington DC, as Director, interim Secretariat, Green Climate Fund in Bonn and in the private sector in India.

He took over as DG of BEE, where he has initiated and directed innovative programs, the statement said.

(Agencies)

Sexual harassment, rape allegations rock Greenpeace

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Greenpeace

New Delhi: Environment rights NGO Greenpeace India could be in for more trouble as an ex-staffer has gone public with allegations of rape and sexual harassment by her colleagues.

The organisation’s inaction against the perpetrators has spurred more female ex-employees to come out with similar accusations. Now, the NGO is at the receiving end with activists lambasting the organisation’s irresponsible handling of the cases.

Recently, Greenpeace was in the news after the government froze it’s accounts for non-compliance of norms. The Delhi High Court, however, released two of its accounts so that it could function.

In an article published on a web forum last week, an ex-employee (name withheld) of Greenpeace alleged that she had to leave her job in 2013 after being sexually harassed and raped by her colleagues.

Narrating her ordeal, she said that it started a year after she had joined the NGO at their Bengaluru office. The first incident happened during an official trip in October 2012. “I got a call from a senior colleague at 11 pm, asking me to vacate my room and insisting that I sleep in his suite. In another incident, he approached me physically despite my discomfort, insisted on force-feeding me birthday cake,’ she told IANS.

Though she registered a written complaint with the HR manager, she did not receive any verbal or written communication from the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the organisation, which looks into sexual harassment cases. To her shock, she learnt that the person was a serial offender and no action had been taken against him despite his misbehaviour with two other female employees.

However, she said, she was blamed for registering the complaint. “Once in an official meeting, in my absence, two senior employees indulged in character assassination against me. Even some female colleagues, part of the ICC, made me feel that I was at fault, that I didn’t know how to ‘set boundaries’,” she said.

However, matters came to a head in 2013. “It was after a party, when a male colleague whom I knew quite well found me unconscious and raped me. You cannot imagine the pain and fear I went through. I was terrified to speak and I knew even if I had, no one in this organisation would come to my aid. I did not have the strength to report my rape, neither to the police, nor to my employers. How could I, when the processes had failed me once already?” she asked. Traumatised, she left the NGO after a few months.

She said it took her long to overcome the incident, and finally, she decided to tell her story through a Facebook post in February this year. Immediately after her post, Greenpeace issued an apology on their website and promised her to re-investigate the case in an adequate manner. Admitting the lax attitude in dealing with the case in 2012, the statement said, “The victim deserves both an apology and a meticulous examination of what happened.”

However, the victim pointed out that the NGO’s subsequent actions exposed their empty talk. “The ICC, which convened in March, recommended the termination of the offender, but the executive director overrode the decision on some pretext and the only thing I received was a written apology from the molester,’’ she said.

Supporting the claims of the victim, another ex-senior manager Reema Ganguly, who was a part of the ICC, told IANS that she quit Greenpeace in May after executive director Samit Aich overrode the committee’s recommendation. “The committee’s suggestion of terminating the molester was overturned by the executive director, and they dismantled the committee which was only three months old, whereas the duration (for such a committee) is for three years. It was very clear that the committee is an eyewash by the NGO,’’ said Ganguly.

However, Aich defended the decision to dismantle the committee. ”We came to know that the committee decisions were leaked to many people in the office. So I sought legal opinion on this and I was told that since its leaked, the decision stands invalid. So we dissolved the committee and reconstituted it,” said Aich.

When asked why they did not follow the committee’s decision of terminating the offender, Aich said a strong warning was given to the person. “I have given a strong warning to the person and as a result, he has put in his papers. I admit that there have been flaws in our earlier system and we will tighten our disciplinary actions in future,” he added.

Reacting to the allegations, Programme Director for Greenpeace India, Divya Raghunandan, told IANS that the former employees had raised some valid issues and that they will investigate it in a “serious manner”. Acknowledging that there were flaws in the earlier system, Raghunandan said, “When we revisited the cases, we felt that it should have been handled in a better way.”

Asserting that they were re-evaluating the overall procedures for handling complaints of sexual harassment, she said that the employee in question had resigned. “We have reconstituted the ICC and ordered an audit into the old cases. The implicated employee has put in his papers already,’’ she said.

However, activists and former employees question the failure of the NGO in punishing a serial offender and protecting him for years.

Holding the executive director of Greenpeace India responsible for the shabby handling of the cases, Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, said that the events had tarnished the image of the NGO. “Greenpeace failed to stand by their promise of punishing the offender. They disbanded a committee, which recommended punishment for the molester. The NGO is muzzling voices of dissent. They have stretched the cases for so many years. The punishment has to be spelt out clearly,’’ Krishnan said adding that they have written to Greenpeace International and were waiting for their response to act further.

Voicing similar concerns, Usha Saxena, a former employee, alleged that she was forced to quit Greenpeace because she took a stand against the rampant cases of harassment in the NGO. Saxena, who joined Greenpeace in 2009, said that her protests against sexist jokes and remarks fell on deaf ears. “I filed a misconduct complaint against senior HR director for making discriminatory and threatening remarks about my gender, my age and ordering me to seek ‘psychological counselling’. For that, I was bullied out in 2013,’’ Saxena told IANS.

Another ex-staffer (name withheld) also said that she was harassed by the same person implicated in the first incident. She said she resigned in March 2015 after inaction by the NGO. “He made some objectionable comments in front of many senior colleagues, including the executive director. No one reacted, rather they were all amused. “Though she registered a complaint with the HR Department the next day, it met the same fate as the previous ones,” she told IANS. She also said she would take further legal action if the offender is not punished.

(IANS)

CAR to sue French soldiers over alleged sex crimes

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Justice minister announces case against soldiers accused of raping children in exchange for food at a refugee camp.

A UN report detailed interviews with six children, aged eight to 15, who approached the French soldiers to ask for food [EPA]

A UN report detailed interviews with six children, aged eight to 15, who approached the French soldiers to ask for food [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

The Central African Republic will take legal action against the French soldiers accused of raping children in exchange for food at a refugee camp, the country’s justice minister has said.

“Legal action will be pursued … These are still very serious acts,” said Justice Minister Aristide Sokambi on Wednesday, insisting his nation was not targeting France but individual soldiers.

Several children – the youngest just nine – allege that 14 soldiers dispatched to the impoverished nation as part of a peacekeeping force sexually abused some of them in exchange for food between December 2013 and June 2014.

“We regret the fact we were not brought into these investigations despite the cooperation agreements we have with France,” Sokambi added.

“So I have instructed the public prosecutor to open a probe and seek the evidence already at the disposal of the French.”

French troops were deployed to the Central African Republic in December 2013 to help African Union peacekeepers restore order after a bout of sectarian violence triggered by a coup.

Hundreds of troops were stationed at Bangui’s M’Poko airport, which was transformed into a giant refugee camp.

Most of the displaced families living amid the abandoned planes had lost everything in the conflict, which pitted mainly Muslim rebels against vigilantes from the majority Christian population.

Paris investigates

Prosecutors in Paris have opened an investigation into the reports, with France’s defence ministry pledging to take “all the measures necessary for the truth to come out”.

The defence ministry has said it immediately launched a probe into the case, sending police investigators to the former French colony on August 1 after receiving the news.

The ministry has denied attempting to cover up a potentially devastating scandal. The allegations were contained in an internal UN report that was leaked to French authorities last summer by a UN official.

If proven, the allegations will not only affect the French army but also the Central African Republic, which is trying to find a way out of a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 900,000 people.

Many people living in the camp at M’Poko airport had lost their livelihoods to the violence.

Hunger in the camp became so widespread that riots often broke out when food was distributed.

French soldiers accused of raping CAR children

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Prosecutors investigate accusations that troops in Central African Republic abused children they were sent to protect.

A UN report detailed interviews with six children, aged eight to 15, who approached the French soldiers to ask for food [EPA]

A UN report detailed interviews with six children, aged eight to 15, who approached the French soldiers to ask for food [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

France is investigating allegations that its peacekeepers sexually abused children in the Central African Republic after a leaked UN report said victims as young as eight were raped in exchange for food and money.

The French government “was made aware at the end of July 2014 by the UN’s high commissioner for human rights of accusations by children that they had been sexually abused by French soldiers”, the defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

An investigation was opened shortly after by Paris prosecutors, it said.

The defence ministry vowed to take measures to ensure that “the truth be found” and said “the strongest penalties” would be imposed on those found responsible.

The abuse was alleged by around 10 children, the ministry said, and reportedly took place at a centre for displaced people near the airport of the capital Bangui between December 2013 and June 2014.

UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that UN rights investigators had conducted a probe last year following “serious allegations” of child abuse and sexual exploitation by French troops, and had suspended a staff member for leaking the report in July.

The report was given to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper by the US-based advocacy group AIDS-Free World, which is calling for a commission of inquiry to be set up on sexual misconduct by peacekeepers.

Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said that even though the French military said an investigation was under way on their behalf, the incident is potentially embarrassing for the UN.

“Until now, the one person who has been punished for anything is that UN human rights official who raised the alarm,” he said.

Children searching for food

Paula Donovan, co-director of AIDS-Free World, said the report detailed interviews with six children, aged eight to 15, who approached the French soldiers to ask for food.

“The children were saying that they were hungry and they thought that they could get some food from the soldiers. The answer was ‘if you do this, then I will give you food’,” Donovan told AFP news agency.

“Different kids used different language.”

The report by the UN human rights office was commissioned amid fears of sexual abuse against children last year as tens of thousands were displaced by fighting and unrest in the country.

The UN employee accused of the leak, Swedish national Anders Kompass, is based in Geneva and turned the report over to French authorities because his bosses had failed to take action, The Guardian reported.

He has been suspended and faces dismissal for breaching protocol, the paper said.

But UN officials said Kompass passed on the confidential document before it was presented to senior officials in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, suggesting that senior UN officials were not even aware of the report’s findings when it was leaked.

“This constitutes a serious breach of protocol, which, as is well known to all OHCHR officials, requires redaction of any information that could endanger victims, witnesses and investigators,” said Haq.

While the UN did not identify the source of the leak, it asserted that “such conduct does not constitute whistleblowing”.

UNICEF, IMA to deal with child sexual abuse cases

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child-abuse-sexual

New Delhi: The UN’s children’s fund (UNICEF) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Wednesday joined hands to strengthen the response of medical practitioners in identifying, reporting and treating cases of child sexual abuse (CSA).

Announcing the special partnership, the IMF and the UNICEF India chapter said that they will equip medical practitioners with a detailed understanding of diverse facets of child sexual abuse along with relevant legal provisions.

“Medical practitioners are often the first point of contact in a child sexual abuse case, and are required to take prompt action to ensure immediate and effective treatment of the child,” they said.

“Violence against children is all too often unseen, unheard and under reported. This partnership with the medical fraternity of the country will play a key role in strengthening the care for child survivors and in bringing new ideas and expertise to support our mission in generating awareness among medical and allied professionals,” David McLoughlin, a UNICEF official said.

“Every case of child sexual abuse has to be taken as medical emergency. Treatment has to be provided free of cost by the government as well as private medical facilities, A. Marthanda Pillai and K.K. Aggarwal national president and honorary secretary general, IMA respectively, said in a joint statement.

In a case of sexual assault of a child, it is the legal duty of a doctor to give medical care, collect forensic evidence, report the offence to the police and give testimony in court if required, they added.

In India, 4.5 percent of girls aged 15-19 have been subjected to sexual abuse. Boys are also exposed to sexual violence but usually to a less extent, a release issued here said.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: Sharp increase in sexual crimes against kids in 2014; only two convictions

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school-rape-bangalore

Bengaluru: The data relating to crimes against women and children in the state over the last two years has brought to light some shocking figures.

For starters, the number of cases of sexual assault on children rose from 270 in 2013 to a whopping 844 in 2014.

More shockingly, only two such cases saw conviction in 2014, while in 2013, accused in 26 cases have been convicted.

Home minister K J George revealed this data while replying to questions raised by MLC Ivan D’Souza during the Legislative Council session on Friday February 13.

The police have filed final reports in all the 270 cases in 2013, while in 2014, final reports were submitted in 642 of the 844 cases.

Also, there were 1,087 cases of harassment against children in 2013, out of which only 12 saw convictions, and 1,858 such cases in 2014 out of which accused in 26 cases were found guilty. Final police reports were submitted in 991 out of the 1,087 cases in 2013 and 1,408 cases out of 1,858 in 2014.

With regard to crimes against women, the year 2013 saw 9,302 cases of harassment and 1,030 cases of rapes. In 2014, this figure stood at 10,537 cases of harassment and 1,315 rapes. The police filed final reports in all the cases in 2013, while in 2014, final reports were filed in 492 rape cases and 7,653 cases of harassment.

The conviction rate remained low in both years, with accused in only 110 harassment cases and 15 rape cases being held guilty in 2013. During 2014, 113 cases of harassment and 4 rape cases saw conviction.

To a question on steps taken to curb sexual crimes against women and children, K J George replied that 10 fast track courts were established in August 2013 and 30 special courts to deal with crimes against children were set up in April 2014 as per POCSO Act.

(Agencies)

Modi government scraps rape crisis centres project

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WCD minister Maneka Gandhi had assured that the centres would be open by December. Photo: Hindustan Times

WCD minister Maneka Gandhi had assured that the centres would be open by December. Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The much talked about “one stop crisis centre” — conceived in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case and the Justice Verma report — has been scrapped by the NDA government. The project worth about Rs 200 crore was expected to provide medical, legal, police and emergency services to women in distress.

In June this year, the women and child development (WCD) ministry, headed by Maneka Gandhi had announced that one-stop rape crisis centres will be made functional by the year end in all districts of the country.

The centres were supposed to provide medical, legal, and police aid to women who are victims of rape and sexual assault.”These will provide short stay for the women in need and will be equipped with ambulance services which will reach women who need help. Funds, Maneka added, have been allocated for the project, partly from the Nirbhaya fund and the centres will be run by the central government,” The Indian Express had earlier reported.

According to TOI, “the plan has been shot down by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on the argument that the scheme was unnecessary and services could be provided through the existing infrastructure like hospitals and women police stations.”

“WCD ministry sources however pointed out that there were many scenarios when women who were stalked, molested, raped or experienced violence and could not or were not willing to go to a police station. “They require only shelter or counseling. The centre promises anonymity to the victim. It would have acted as an overnight shelter while making all the services of a hospital, police station, legal aid cell under one roof,’’ sources said. The cost of a centre was pitched at Rs 36 lakh,” the paper reports.

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