By IANS
New Delhi : The National Commission for Women (NCW) Wednesday blamed the Delhi Police for the miserable condition of two sisters who nearly died of starvation while sitting beside the decomposing body of their dead sibling in their south Delhi home.
“We have learnt that nearly two months ago their (Bali sisters) neighbours had informed the police about them. They informed the police that the sisters had stopped stepping out of their Kalkaji A Block home and were also not communicating with others,” NCW member Malini Bhattacharya told IANS after visiting the sisters Wednesday.
“But the police didn’t pay any attention.
“Neighbours also made several fruitless efforts to communicate with them. Police swung into action only after receiving a complaint of foul smell emanating from the house,” Bhattacharya said.
She added that if the police had acted on time, the situation would not have been so bad. “We are seeking a report from the deputy commissioner of police (south Delhi) regarding the lapses.”
Asked about the help offered by the commission to the poor women, Bhattacharya informed that the NCW could not help them financially, but they have asked NGOs to help them in rehabilitation and finding jobs.
Members of the local Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) are also taking care of them and the sisters are recovering.
“Presently Gharonda Old Age Home, an NGO, is helping them financially and the commission is studying what kind of counselling and assistance is required by the sisters in the future. I am submitting a preliminary report to the commission and further action will be decided soon,” she informed.
The Bali sisters – Dolly, 43, Poonam, 41, and Neeru, 30 – lived in house no. 331 in south Delhi’s Kalkaji area. The only earning member, Neeru, had lost her job a few months ago.
The sisters, who had lost their parents years ago, were not particularly friendly with anyone in the neighbourhood. They had run out of money and shut themselves in their home.
It was only when the neighbours were alerted by the foul smell emanating from their home that the police were called in last week – to find Dolly and Poonam sitting beside their dead sibling Neeru and awaiting death.
The two sisters were reed thin and dishevelled. Members of the RWA took them to a private nursing home.