The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has sent a notice to the cyber cell of Delhi Police on Wednesday after vicious trolling of arrested Jamia Millia Islamia scholar Safoora Zargar continues on social media.
27-year-old Zargar who is now in the second trimester of her pregnancy, was sent to Tihar Jail after being charged under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) for her alleged role in the Northeast Delhi riots.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal condemned the online trolls as she said, “Whether she is guilty or not, will be decided by court. But the way trolls have outraged her modesty and vilified a pregnant woman’s character is shameful!’
#SafooraZargar is pregnant & in jail. Whether she is guilty or not, will be decided by court.
But the way trolls have outraged her modesty and vilified a pregnant woman’s character is shameful!
Issued Notice to Delhi Police Cyber Cell to imm take action against the trolls. pic.twitter.com/lpjFUCkVK1
— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) May 6, 2020
The DCW in its notice has asked Delhi police to provide the copy of FIR registered against online abuses and attacks on Zargar, details of accused identified and arrested in the matter. The organisation has also asked the measures taken by the police to remove the posts vilifying Zargar’s character.
Zargar had been arrested on April 13, after police claimed she was among those who organised an anti-CAA protest and road blockade under the Jafrabad Metro station in Delhi on February 22-23. At the time of her arrest, Zargar was 13 weeks pregnant.
Zargar’s arrest has also been condemned by international human rights organisation Amnesty. On May 1, Amnesty India released a statement saying,
“A particularly distressing arrest was that of 27-year-old Safoora Zargar, a research scholar from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University. She was arrested on 10 April 2020 by the Delhi police for her alleged involvement in the February Delhi riots. But immediately after getting bail, the Delhi police arrested her again under UAPA and sent to Tihar jail in New Delhi, one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country. At the time of her arrest, Safoora was three months pregnant. She has been repeatedly denied access to her lawyer and her husband due to the nation-wide lockdown imposed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.”
At the time of her arrest, Safoora Zargar, a research scholar at @jmiu_official, was 3 months pregnant.
The Government of India has ruthlessly arrested a pregnant woman and sent her to an overcrowded prison during #COVID19!
DEMAND HER RELEASE NOW: https://t.co/iJuOcDztsY pic.twitter.com/2sU7GmSslP
— Amnesty India (@AIIndia) May 1, 2020
Her counsel had sought bail and told the Delhi court that she has been falsely implicated and was not named in the FIR. However, it was rejected. The Indian Express reports, the court was also told she is three-months pregnant, and in view of the proviso of Section 437 of CrPC, she may be released on bail.