After the Sakinaka rape and murder case, the top brass of the Mumbai police has decided to create a ‘Nirbhaya Squad’. This squad will be present in every police station in Mumbai to prevent crimes against women. The officials gave this statement. The commissioner of police Hemant Nagrale gave the statement to this effect on Tuesday.
The city police came up with the idea just a day after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray met with the state Director General of Police and the Mumbai police commissioner along with other senior police officers. They met at the state police headquarters. This reviewed the measures that the police department took to ensure the safety and security of women. This squad for women safety will be on regular patrolling duty. The squad would consist of a lady sub-inspector, a woman constable, A driver and a male constable.
The city police also initiated another project called ‘Saksham’. This is in collaboration with an organization called ‘M Power’. The police started this project to provide psychotherapy to the survival of sexual offences and juveniles in conflicts and law. It would also provide counselling for their recovery from post-incident trauma, rehabilitation and psychological counselling.
In each of the five regions, there would be nodal officers to supervise and review the functioning of the Nirbhaya Squads. A lady assistant commissioner or an inspector level lady officer would generally be the nodal officer. The work of these squads would be to gather intelligence of any kind of wrongdoings in hostels, children-homes and orphanages. The squads also have the responsibility to create awareness about the stricter provisions and harsh statements prescribed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO). The slum areas of the city witness the maximum number of POCSO cases. The areas include the dense slums of Cuffe Parade, Kurla, Antop Hill-Dharavi, Malwani, Bhandup, etc. If this awareness is present, it would help the cops to prevent sexual crimes against minors.
The senior police officers have also announced monthly rewards to the squads for best performance. The higher officials did this mainly to make sure that the squads perform their duties as per expectations. The officers in the Nirbhaya Squad were to attend parent meetings, seminars the schools and colleges organise. They will do that to create awareness about the squads and the legal rights of women and children. Another job of the squad is to distribute booklets on laws and legal provisions meant for safety, security and women welfare. A two-day training will be provided before they start functioning.
There will be a Nirbhaya complaint box in schools and colleges. The police will maintain a record of action taken after receiving these complaints. On Tuesday, 14th September, the Mumbai police said, “The Nirbhaya Squads are being formed with an aim to create a safer environment for women and children in the society and also to create fear of law in minds of sexual offenders and deterring them from indulging in crimes.” There will be regular patrolling in the hotspots of sexual crime as well.
