Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday strongly condemned the incident involving three women from the Northeast who were racially abused and threatened by a couple in Malviya Nagar recently.
Delhi belongs to everyone,” Rekha Gupta said in a video message shared on X.
“Here, the dignity, respect and safety of every citizen is paramount. I will meet them personally. The police take legal action with full responsibility and we will ensure that maximum possible action is taken against the perpetrators. No girl will be tolerated, discriminated against or humiliated at any cost,” she said.
She added: “We are all one, and the safety of every daughter is our utmost responsibility.”
The incident made headlines after a video clip surfaced, showing a couple in Malviya Nagar threatening the three women and racially abusing them during a dispute over dust resulting from electrical work in their rented accommodation.
On Wednesday, police said they had arrested the accused, Ruby Jain (35), and her husband, Harsh Singh.
The police said they have added charges under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act or the SC/ST Act based on the material available on record, HT reported earlier.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan said, “We have invoked the provisions of the SC/ST Act in this case and as per the law, the investigation is now being conducted by an officer-rank Assistant Commissioner of Police.”
Politicians, including Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister for North Eastern Development, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, condemned the incident.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 3.30pm last Friday, when the three women, aged between 19 and 23, were doing electrical installation work inside the rented building.
During the operation, some dust allegedly fell into the apartment below, where the couple was staying, police said.
This led to a heated argument, during which the accused used words such as “massage parlor” in a derogatory manner to women and also allegedly referred to them as “dhande wali” – a term often used euphemistically to refer to sex workers.
In their complaint to police, the women alleged that the couple used derogatory language targeting their race, insulted their modesty, and issued threats. They said the altercation left them psychologically harassed and humiliated, although no physical injuries were reported.
The women told police about verbal abuse and racist insults directed at them because they were from the North East. Two of them are from Arunachal Pradesh, and the third is from Manipur.
