Guwahati, Dec. 28: The Assam State Commission for Women has moved the state police department seeking appointment of female officers in every police station across the state to facilitate proper handling of cases related to women’s issues.

Chairperson of the commission Mridula Saharia has written to the office of the director-general of police, citing problems faced by women for lack of female police officers in most police stations.

“We have seen a rise in cases related to women’s issues and an increasing number of women are approaching the police — because of rise in awareness level — to protect their constitutional rights. Without help from the police we cannot protect the constitutional rights of women. Hence, we want a woman police officer in every police station,” Saharia said.

The commission said a woman feels more comfortable in seeking police help on issues like domestic violence, dowry, women and child trafficking if these are handled by a woman police officer.

“Our state has the highest incidents of women trafficking in the Northeast and dowry-related cases are also on the rise. The woman always finds it uncomfortable to visit a police station. We have women constables in police stations but we need to recruit women police officers,” Saharia said.

Though there is no government figure, sources said around a thousand women fall victim to human trafficking in the state. The commission also urged the police department to increase the number of woman police in the state.

“Police support is still difficult in our rural and interior areas. On November 24, we visited the Tokonkota village in Barama where a couple were killed a few days earlier on the suspicion of practising witchcraft. We came to know that the couple could not seek police help to protect their lives as there was no police station nearby,” Saharia said.

“According to Sections 46, 47 and 51 CrPC, no woman can be arrested by a policeman or searched in the absence of a woman constable. A police officer must accompany a woman police to enter a woman’s house after sunset,” Nabasmita Sharma, a high court lawyer, said.