A three-member committee of the National Commission for Women, after visiting the Nari Niketan at Karnal on Tuesday, asked the district administration to withdraw the cases lodged against the inmates. Appalled by the lack of basic facilities and adequate living space for 60 inmates, NCW member Malini Bhattacharya said, “It seems more like a place to dump the girls.”

The committee, which inspected the home premises and interacted with the inmates, staff and district officials found the staff quality, infrastructure and the facilities in the home far from satisfactory. Mainly describing it as a “failure of the administration”, the members asked the Superintendent of the home to start living in the allocated quarters within the premises with immediate effect.

“There is provision for 20 girls and there are at present 60 girls living in four rooms,” said the members. With the cramped conditions, the members found that the there is no segregation of inmates.

The committee members said the girls had stated that on the night of the alleged incident, they had been locked up in their rooms, and it had become intolerable with overcrowding and a power cut.

The Commission had taken cognizance of a complaint by NGO Shakti Vahini, which runs a helpline in the area.