Following the brutal rape and murder of a 32-year-old woman in Mumbai's Sakinaka on Thursday, 9 September, the city police have now decided to form an exclusive women's safety cell called 'Nirbhaya Squad', to prevent crimes against women and children, the Hindustan Times reported.
Under the initiative, a Nirbhaya squad will be created at every police station in Mumbai.
How Will 'Nirbhaya Squad' Function?
The decision of forming the squads was taken a day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with state Director General of Police, Mumbai police commissioner, and other senior police officers regarding the review measures being taken by the police department for the safety of women.
The police said that the squad will include one woman officer of PSI or ASI rank, a female and male constable besides a driver.
They added that Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) of the Regional Division would convene a meeting of the Nirbhaya Squad in the first week of every month to review the safety of women.
A woman assistant commissioner of police or a inspector level lady officer will be appointed as nodal officers in all five regions coming under the purview of ACPs to oversee the operation of the squads, the police added.
'Nirbhaya Squads To Regularly Patrol City, Create Awareness on POCSO Act'
The Nirbhaya squads will be regularly patrolling key areas such as schools, colleges, malls, and theaters to prevent crimes against women and children. They will also be visiting streets around these places to identify and draw a list of places that are prone to reporting such crimes.
The list will then be used to carry out regular patrolling in the city. The teams will also keep a tab on sexual offenders in the past five years. And continuously monitor their movement so that they are not creating any harm to women after they come out on bail.
The teams will also be working to gather information on malpractices at hostels, orphanages or homes.
The police have said that the Nirbhaya sqaud will also be responsible for creating awareness among women and children about the stricter punishments provided under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act . It will be extensively carried out at areas like slums that report POCSO cases very frequently.
The squads have also been instructed to attend parents meetings and seminars organised by schools and colleges to create awareness about this initiative and the legal provisions that women and children can avail when crimes are committed against them. A Nirbhaya complaint box will also be fixed in these places.
The squad will be given a two-day training before they start the work. They will also be provided with a pen camera to record incidents of stalking. A special training center will be set up at all the five regions to train the teams on women's safety and on counselling survivors and juveniles.
The city police have also come up with a project called ‘Saksham’ in coordination with an organisation named 'M Power' wherein survivors of sexual offences and juveniles will be provided appropriate counselling to overcome post-incident trauma, the Hindustan Times reported.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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