Take steps to prevent domestic violence: ADGP to officers

ADGP M Ravi (crimes against women and children) asked all Commissioners and district Superintendents of Police to take necessary steps to ensure the safety of women at home.

Reports suggest that domestic violence cases have been on the rise ever since the State went to the lockdown owing to COVID- 19 outbreak. National Commission for Women (NCW) and United Nations (UN) ave also expressed concerns that domestic violence has increased globally since the lockdown. NCW noted that there is an increase in police apathy in addressing women’s grievances of women, Ravi noted.

Apart from the master control room, 1091 Woman Helpline may also get calls. If any of the 1091 Women Helpline installed in the All Woman Police Stations is not functioning, steps should be taken to reinstate it, the officer said, adding that a log should also bd maintained to follow-up the action taken on the calls received.

The ADGP further suggested that field officers and woman police personnel should randomly visit the vulnerable areas and even susceptible households, including ex-offenders’. It won’t be easy for the victims to report the crimes committed within the four walls of the house, he further noted.

He also asked his officers to take proactive strategies to address the grievances of women and children who are the backbone of family and society. 

Further, he directed jurisdictional police officers to visit camps where woman migrant labourers are lodged by employes and make sure they are not abused or exploited in any way.

Such visits undertaken in this regard should be entered in a separate register. Also visit the places such as child care institutes, hostels, etc where working women and children stay, he concluded.