Bhubaneswar: State's top cop R.P. Sharma on Monday inaugurated a workshop to train police officers and others who will take part in a state-wide campaign to prevent sexual abuse on minor girls.
As many as 15 specially-designed chariots - named Paree Ratha - will cover all the 30 districts of the state during the 15-day awareness programme scheduled to start on May 28.
The police said that the chariots - equipped with LED screens and projectors - will play short films on women's safety and will create awareness among people on the stringent laws to deal with sexual abuse. Besides, artists of district cultural councils will interact with the people and enact street plays to generate mass awareness.
"Printed materials - such as leaflets, pamphlets and posters - will be distributed and the chariots will cover all sub-divisions, blocks and panchayats," said a police officer.
The workshop was held at the convention hall of the Police Bhavan in the state capital on Monday. The nodal officers of all the districts, along with 120 police officers, attended the event. The state police will organise the campaign in collaboration with Unicef.
"The decision of launching the awareness drive has been taken in the wake of a number of sexual assault cases involving minor girls being reported from across the state. In about 81 per cent cases, the accused have been nabbed within 48 hours of committing the crime. But an awareness drive is need of the hour to prevent such incidents. That's why we have decided to launch the programme to create awareness among people," said Sharma.
The records of Odisha police revealed a rise in minor rape cases in 2017 from that of 2016. Out of 2,144 rape cases registered in 2016, at least 1,204 cases involved minor girls. But in 2018, the total registration of rape complaints climbed to 2,221, which included 1,283 cases involving minor girls. The alleged rape and strangulation of a six year-old girl at Salepur in Cuttack district last month had triggered a massive public outrage in the state.
The victim later died while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital.
