Girls in Hazaribagh who put up with lewd remarks and groping near their schools and colleges and in other public places but feel scared to approach the police can now take heart.
On the morning of Wednesday, March 8, International Women's Day, Hazaribagh SP Anoop Birtharay will launch a Pink team of assistant sub-inspectors and constables - all women - who would patrol localities near educational institutions where girls study, urging them to contact the policewomen without hesitation.
For starters, one Pink team in a pink SUV will make the rounds of Hazaribagh town area, especially near KB Women's College and Hazaribagh Women's College, girls' schools and also co-educational institutions. The armed team will have one ASI and four to five constables.
"The purpose of this initiative is to reverse the trend of girls suffering eve-teasing silently," said Birtharay. "It will be easy for girls to communicate their problems to policewomen. We will also launch a WhatsApp number tomorrow (Wednesday) specifically of the Pink team, which will be made available to all institutions. Girls will also get contact numbers of the Pink team," he said.
The SP added that they had envisaged requested more Pink teams on scooters for which they requested fuel major ONGC to step in. "We requested ONGC to fund four or five scooters so that women constables equipped with a gun and wireless set can patrol various areas of the town to put a check on crimes against women in Hazaribagh," he said.
In January, a workshop was organised at KB Women's College where girl students were told about the Shakti App - a state alert initiative to control gender crimes - and given numbers of police so as to contact them at the time of need.
Hazaribagh also became second district after Latehar to have water purifiers and coolers at police stations, outposts, pickets and offices of policemen. They got Rs 70 lakh to install this system at 35 various places. Availability of safe and cool drinking water at thanas is a big step in making them people-friendly, he added.
