New Delhi: National Commission of Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma on Thursday said parents should accept live-in relationships and that if girls are given the right to select their partners, then crime against women would drop.
Her statement comes in the wake of murder of Nikki Yadav, who was killed by her boyfriend and body stored in a fridge in a Delhi dhaba.
“NCW has sought police report. We feel girls aren't safe in live-in relationships. Not only girls but families also responsible for such incidents. If girls are given right to select their partners, these types of incidents can decrease,” news agency ANI quoted Sharma as saying.
“Police and family both should be concerned about these types of incidents. The family must accept live-in relation. We will take all major actions in the case,” she added.
Meanwhile, the family of 23-year-old Nikki has demanded a trial at a fast-track court, news agency PTI reported.
Nikki's uncle Praveen Yadav alleged that the police are "misleading" the victim’s family and the public and demanded that the accused, Sahil Gehlot, "should be hanged."
"The case should be heard at a fast-track court and the culprit should be hanged. The police are trying to mislead us. Nikki was living at a hostel, she was not in a live-in relationship," Yadav said.
He further said that after Nikki went missing, her father too had approached Gehlot but was not given any information.
Notably, Nikki Yadav was allegedly strangled to death by Gehlot, who stuffed her body inside a refrigerator of his dhaba in Mitraon village of southwest Delhi.
The crime came to light on February 14, four days after the murder, when Gehlot's confession led to the recovery of Nikki’s body from the refrigerator, police said.
According to the police, Gehlot told them that he was in a "double mind" and could not decide between whether he wanted to marry his "live-in partner" or the woman his parents had arranged for him.