New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS): Alert officials of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) saved a 20-year-old woman from becoming victim of an ‘honour killing.

"The victim used her friend's phone to seek help from the commission via Twitter. She informed that she got married to a man on August 12 and since then her parents have been trying to kill her. Upon receiving the said message, the commission's PRO Rahul Tahiliani immediately asked her for her contact details, but she informed that her father had seized her phone and that she was staying on a footpath since the last 2 days, hiding from her family," the DCW said in a statement on Thursday.

Initially, the victim was very scared and was not comfortable in sharing her location. Tahiliani, however, made all attempts and counselled her and persuaded her to immediately come to the DCW office.

She came to the office and met DCW Member Firdaus Khan. During the counselling, she revealed that she had married the man of her choice on August 12 with Hindu rituals at a temple and that her family wasn't happy with the decision.

She also revealed that her family called her home to talk about it but instead when she reached home, she was beaten up and was abducted and taken to Dadri. She said that her family was conspiring to murder her. She luckily escaped and somehow managed to come back to Delhi.

"Her husband is still hiding somewhere and is untraceable," the commission said while adding that the statement of the girl has been recorded and after that she was safely transferred to a shelter home.

The commission has also ensured that strong action be taken against her family following which an FIR was registered in the matter. A case has been registered under section 323/365/506/34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The commission has also written to the police to ensure the safety of the victim and her husband.

The commission is also providing legal assistance to the victim who has now filed an application in the Delhi High Court seeking the court's urgent protection in the matter.

Reacting to the incident, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said, "It is so shameful that the societal evil of honour killing still exists in our country. It is very difficult to understand how parents can even think of doing this to their children. Social media has made life easier for us in many ways. Even when we look at this case, the victim didn't have a phone, nor was she able to share her location."

"The commission's team handled the situation very calmly and helped rescue the girl. While the commission has been helping people in coming to the office, with ground network and through the helpline, the commission has also been able to set up a real-time social media tracking system where the team scans and keeps an eye on all the complaints," Maliwal said further.

The DCW chief also said that the commission is working hard day and night to make Delhi safer for women.