The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has asked the Ministry of External Affairs to provide protection to three Ugandan women, who it says, have alleged that they were held hostage by the “drug mafia” in the Malviya Nagar area of south Delhi.
A Delhi government official said the women have said in their complaint that their passports and other important documents have been taken away by the people they described as the “drug mafia”. They have reportedly requested the government to help arrange their safe return to Uganda.
“They were taken to the Deputy Commissioner’s (South) office and their statements were registered under section 164 CrPC. We have already approached the MEA seeking protection to them. We also requested the Ministry to arrange for their return to Uganda,” top Delhi officials were quoted by PTI as saying.
The three women reportedly recorded statements before a magistrate late last night.
The women reportedly said they live in the Khirki Extension area of Malviya Nagar, where Delhi’s Law Minister Somnath Bharti had allegedly led a group of AAP supporters in conducting a controversial raid against some African people who they accused of involvement in a drug and prostitution racket.
The Congress, the BJP and various women organizations, including Delhi’s women’s commission, have slammed the AAP government for Mr Bharti’s actions, which they have described as “vigilantism” and “racist.” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has however been staunch in his defence of his minister amid many demands that he be removed.
He staged a 33-hour protest last month against the city’s police for not acting on the minister’s request for action against the alleged drug and prostitution ring.
