Call Centre to cater to complaints regarding crime against women

In the backdrop of the Hyderabad gangrape and murder of a veterinary doctor, the West Bengal government is mulling options to set up a call centre to cater to complaints regarding crime against women in the districts, a senior official said on Thursday.

The main purpose of the proposed call centre will be to cater to complaints from women facing crimes in the districts, which till now had no such facilities, he said.

"There will be a toll-free number for the purpose. Once a call is received, the executives at the call centre will alert the concerned police station in the districts...The police administration of the district will then inform the nearest police officers on duty," the officer said. 

Around 40 per cent of the amount left after spending of the Nirbhaya fund that the state gets from the Centre will be used for the purpose, he said.

Incidentally, Kolkata Police and the police administration in its surrounding areas have already beefed up security measures for the safety of the women.

In Kolkata, the city police has already installed CCTV cameras and was planning to set up many more as well as operate mobile toilets for the fairer sex for their security. These measures have been chalked out to make the city safe and comfortable for women, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

Decisions to step up security measures for the women in the city were taken at a recent meeting held at the police headquarters chaired by city police commissioner Anuj Sharma.

"We have plans to set more CCTVs at strategic points near educational institutions and busy intersections of the city. We are also planning to introduce mobile toilets for women near market places," Sharma said at that meeting.

Kolkata Police was also planning a new dedicated cyber crime investigation laboratory for quick and better probe of online crimes against women, a senior officer of the Force said.

The Force has also taken up steps highlighting the importance of educating men to respect women.  There have been campaigns by the city police highlighting emergency numbers like 100, 1090 and 1091.

Kolkata Police has also initiated projects like 'Respect Women' and self-defence drives, like 'Tejashwini' to sensitive people and make women self-reliant.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a recent meeting directed all police stations to register complaints of violence against women without any delay.

The chief minister also instructed senior officers to penalise police personnel, who refuses to register a complaint in such cases.