WCD Minister Gaikwad holds review meeting

Goes over action taken so far, asks officials to pay personal attention to case and submit report on handing over of 14 children to their respective parents

WCD Minister Gaikwad holds review meeting

Goes over action taken so far, asks officials to pay personal attention to case and submit report on handing over of 14 children to their respective parents

Minister for Women and Child Development Varsha Gaikwad reviewed the actions taken so far in the Vidyavati Ashram rape case in a meeting conducted yesterday.u00a0Gaikwad once again told the officers attending the meeting that no laxity would be tolerated in the case.u00a0

It is understood that Gaikwad asked Commissioner Rajesh Chavan and Secretary Vandana Krishna to pay personal attention to the case.u00a0Sources in the minister's office said Gaikwad held the meeting in Mumbai and asked Chavan to submit a report on the 14 children who were reportedly handed over to their parents without producing them before the CWC. The minister also asked why there were deletions and omissions in the list of these children submitted before the CWC.u00a0Deputy Commissioner Ravindra Patil confirmed that the minister had gone over the action taken in the Vidyavati Ashram case."The meeting was a routine one," he said.u00a0

Rape inquiry

It may be recalled that the fact that children had been handed over to their parents had surfaced during the five-member inquiry committee's investigations.u00a0The committee was appointed to investigate the case of rape and impregnation of a 13-year-old girl at Vidyavati Ashram.

Sources in the minister's office said Gaikwad had long ago given instructions to take action against the owner of the ashram but according to the police so far a case had only been registered under Section 23 of the JJ Act against ashram caretaker and home mother Sunita Thakur for negligence.

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