'Somnath Bharti should be punished for his irresponsible actions': Shobha Oza

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ANI New Delhi
Last Updated : Jan 22 2014 | 1:25 PM IST

President of Women Congress Shobha Oza on Wednesday demanded proper investigation against Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti and his followers following his controversial midnight raid at the house of a Ugandan woman, and said that he should be punished for what he did.

"It was very irresponsible on the part of Somnath Bharti to have acted like this, and take law in his own hands. Any action against women in midnight is not right," she said.

"The way he acted, he barged into the house of the Ugandan girls with his supporters, and the type of risk they put the girls into is very unfortunate, and an FIR must be launched Bharti and his followers. Proper investigation should be done and he should be punished," she added.

National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Mamta Sharma also said that they will take up this issue after the report from the State Commission is out.

"It has already been confirmed that he was there. We will not spare him, because whatever he did was wrong. He took law in his own hands," she said.

"Chief Minister should have asked for Somnath Bharti's resignation on moral grounds. He should have resigned himself," she added.

Meanwhile, women rights activist Annie Raja said that Somnath Bharti continuing as the Delhi law minister is not justified.

"He has taken oath as a minister and he violating that oath and he violating human rights of others. National Federation of India Women thinks that it is high time that action should be taken against that minister and continuing in Ministry of Delhi Government is not a good thing and it is not justifiable," she said.

In a statement recorded in front of a magistrate earlier on Tuesday, the Ugandan national, who alleged that a group of people forcibly entered her house in south Delhi and molested her, identified Somnath Bharti as the man who led the raid at her house last week.

Media reports quote the Ugandan woman as saying, "I identified Somnath Bharti because he came in the night then the next day I saw him on television. He was still putting on what I saw last night", referring to the muffler that helped her identify him when he appearance on TV the next day.

The Delhi Police on Sunday Police had registered an FIR against unknown people following a court order, after the Ugandan nationals filed a complaint.

Bharti and his supporters have been accused of illegally detaining Ugandan women and forcing them to give medical tests.

Bharati alleged that a sex trade and drug peddling racket was flourishing in the locality with the help of foreign nationals.

He had demanded that the police take action against the offenders.

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First Published: Jan 22 2014 | 1:12 PM IST

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