Three Ugandan women have alleged that they were held hostage by the "drug mafia" in the Malviya Nagar area of south Delhi.
Three Ugandan women who came to India last month are at a nari niketan or "home for women", after alleging that they were lured to Delhi with the promise of jobs, but were held "hostage" by people they have reportedly described as the "drug mafia." They have also alleged that they were forced into prostitution but added that they resisted. The Aam Aadmi Party says this proves that they were right about a thriving "drug and sex racket" in south Delhi.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
The Delhi police have today registered a case against unknown people under sections of the immoral trafficking act, abduction, extortion and unlawful confinement.
The women had reportedly approached the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, which has asked the Ministry of External Affairs to provide protection to them.
A Delhi government official said the women had complained that their passports and other important documents have been taken away by the African people who duped them. They have reportedly requested the government to help arrange their safe return to Uganda.
MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the Delhi government had been talking to the Centre since yesterday. "The Delhi government has indicated that three Ugandan women were lured to India under false pretenses. We have asked Ugandan High Commission to provide consular services to them," he said.
The three women reportedly recorded statements before a district magistrate late last night. They will now have to appear before a metropolitan magistrate at the Saket court in Delhi. An official from the Ugandan embassy will be present when they depose before the court.
The women have 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.
Mr Bharti, who has been accused of racism and harassing other African women during his "raid" last month, said today, "This is hell, girls are brought here with the promise of jobs and then pushed into sex trade. We will not let this torture continue, it is happening under the police's nose."
AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said, "These three women have said clearly that there was a drug and sex racket going on. What more proof do you need now? This clearly shows that we were right." He alleged that there was a nexus between "the drug cartel, police and very strong political parties."
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.
The chief minister 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.
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