SHILLONG: The Khasi Students’ Union, Delhi unit has written to the Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, complaining against Meghalaya House in the national capital for refusing entry to a female victim of harassment.
The union has termed the Resident Commissioner, Meghalaya House, New Delhi as “partial and unprofessional.”
According to the union, a 26-year-old girl (name withheld) from Meghalaya, who alleged harassment and mental torture by her employer in Gurugram, Haryana had also complained to the Special Branch of the state police on May 3.
Accordingly, the Haryana Police was requested to rescue her and after medical check-up to be accommodated in Meghalaya House for her safety as the victim was already in a trauma and could not think of any other place to stay.
A police official from Haryana and also the North East Assistance Team (NEAT) team in Delhi escorted her to Meghalaya House, Abdul Kalam Road initially and then to Meghalaya House, Vasant Vihar on May 4.
However, no official at either of the two places responded even after she waited for hours. Neither did the Assistant Resident Commissioner, Meghalaya House, inform the girl whether she would be provided accommodation, the letter stated.
The union intervened, but she was denied accommodation and was instead told she would be sent to the quarantine centre.
A member of the union told the official she was not a COVID-19 patient but a victim of harassment and if not in Meghalaya House then she needs to be sent to the women’s shelter home, but at the end of the day, she had to return to Haryana along with the police official because the Meghalaya House, which is meant for people from the state, did not relent.
The union stated that earlier too, it had brought such cases to the notice of the chief minister’s office.
At the same time, the union appreciated the officials of Meghalaya House in Kolkata who had helped a female victim caught in a similar situation by providing her shelter and security.
The union urged the chief minister to take disciplinary action against such officials, who shun taking responsibility and are not even sympathetic towards such victims.
The union said that the state government should ensure that people of the state, who are stranded outside and are facing day-to-day problems and harassment, especially after the outbreak of COVID-19, are given priority.
The union suggested opening the Meghalaya House in the metropolitan cities to victims from the state who face such difficulties in these testing times and who are in dire need of a place to stay.
