New Delhi, December 29: A day after the Delhi Commission for Women reported the alleged torture and abuse of girls in city’s shelter homes, Delhi Police have arrested four women staff on Saturday. DCW Chief Swati Maliwal had earlier registered an FIR against the shelter home staff for allegedly torturing girls by inserting chilli powder in their private parts.

Sharing the details of the report, Swati Maliwal had stated that they conducted an inspection at several shelter homes in the national capital and came to know about the torture. She said, “At one of the shelter homes in Dwarka, Delhi, girls were tortured. They were beaten up and two of the girls who are just 6-7 years of age, chilli powder was inserted into the private parts, to punish them. An FIR has been registered.” Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case: Maneka Gandhi Says Union Ministry Informed Bihar Govt Six Months Ago, But Warnings Ignored.

Maliwal also said that the girls were also forced to consume chilli powder as a punishment and due to the fear, the girls became submissive. During the inspection, the girls said that they were forced to wash utensils and clothes, clean rooms and toilets, and perform other kitchen chores.

The DCW had issued a statement on this matter, and it said that the shelter home in Dwarka do not have adequate staff to take care of 22 girls and the quality of food served to them was also not good. According to the statement, the girls were not allowed to go home for summer and winter vacations and were beaten with scales for not keeping their rooms clean and not listening to the staff.

Soon after the report, Maliwal along with the sought the police to be deployed at the shelter home to ensure the safety of girls. Earlier, DCW had set up an expert committee to inspect various private and government-run shelter homes in Delhi, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had supported the move.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 29, 2018 08:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).