Patna, March 7: The law and order in the state has improved tremendously in the past five years, giving a sense of security and confidence to the women.

Not just swift police action but also faster convictions of accused involved in crime against women has been witnessed in past few years.

A Gaya court set an example last year when it awarded life term to three convicts for rape of a 25-year-old Japanese tourist in Bodhgaya, within one month of the crime.

While women say they feel more secure now they do add that more steps are needed to be taken to root out the fear from their minds.

Manjula Sinha, a working woman, said: “If one compares the present situation to what it was like earlier, I think things have really changed. Women now feel safer and move around confidently even late in the evenings. But there are several things still left to be done. Cases of eve-teasing are on the rise and even police and security personnel are involved in a few incidents. The sense of security and trust is shaken because of these instances.”

On March 5, a home guard posted at Patkhauli outpost in the Bagaha district allegedly raped a 25-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh. On February 27, a schoolgirl on her way to her painting class was abused and groped by a man in uniform.

Police officers, however, maintain these are one-off incidents.

“The facts cannot be ruled out. There have been a few cases of eve-teasing where police officers have been involved. But then these are only selective incidents. The conditions have improved over all. Women can now freely roam around in the streets in late evening. This is not something they could do till some time back. The conditions have greatly improved,” a police officer said.

The home guard has been expelled from his service and the case has been put on a speedy trial. The sketch of the man in khaki who groped the school student has been released by the police and inve-stigations are on to find him.

B.S. Meena, the former Patna senior superintendent of police, revamped the existing women’s cell after a non-governmental organisation worker was raped in December last year. He increased the number of officers and also gave them some special powers to nab eve-teasers.

A total of five sub-inspectors and eight constables have been included in the women cell team which is being headed by DSP (headquarters)-2 Smita Suman.

“The cell is working fine. Most of the cases which come here are related to women being troubled by her in-laws and husband for dowry. We also get complaints related to problems between couples,” an officer in the cell said.