The crime against women as been on a rise ever since the Nirbhaya case of 2012 leaves Capital red-faced. As per the latest National Crime Records Bureau report, Delhi reported 11,542 cases of crime against women. The number in the same category of crimes was 13,803 in 2016 and 14,766 in 2015. The police have taken many steps to reduce crime against women like dynamic identification of crime-prone areas, deployment of police resources, dedicated women helpline no. 1091, exclusive women help desk at police stations, anti-stalking services for women, stationing all-woman PCR vans in vulnerable areas, “The number of cases of CAW in Delhi is high because of registration. We have various channels for women to approach the police and any kind of complaint is dealt on priority basis and an FIR is registered immediately.”
Delhi police spokesperson Mandeep Randhawa, the deputy commissioner of police, said, “We have controlled heinous crimes in Delhi. We have installed CCTV cameras for women’s safety. We conduct a safety audit of all paying guest accommodations, colleges and spaces which are frequently visited by women. Our officers are in touch with civic agencies to ensure that there are no dark spots in the city. This helps in ensuring women’s safety.”
He further added that “There is free and fair registration of crime across all police stations in Delhi. Also, you must look at the population difference. In Delhi, we have launched several mobile-based applications for women safety such as Himmat and Himmat Plus which helps women alert police in distress immediately.”
This movement first began way back in 2017 when Delhi’s police force has created an all-female motorcycle squad in an attempt to tackle rising crime against women and was called Raftaar (Speed). The team consisted of specially trained female officers on 600 motorbikes and carry guns, body cameras, pepper spray and stun guns, patrolling crowded, cramped areas of the city in pairs.
Delhi police have introduced a new mechanism from which special women’s patrol unit can e recognized and will be different from their male counterpart – the colour code pink. This move has come under a lot of criticism for being gender stereotypes. A senior retired IPS officer Vikram Singh was quoted saying that, “There should be no discrimination when an officer wears a uniform. This is the reason why it is called a uniform. Just because they are women officers, one should not give them vehicles that are girly in colour. This is contrary to the spirit of the uniform. There should be no discrimination in uniform, vehicles, arms or ammunition,”
The unit will consist of 16 members and will patrol the streets of north-east Delhi and their task is to averting crimes against women in vulnerable areas of the city by both “approachable” and “effective” ways. Delhi Police’s special women’s patrol unit will ride pink-and-white scooters and wear pink helmets. Ved Prakash Surya, deputy commissioner of police (north-east) gave the real reason for doing this and said that “Since the uniform worn by both the genders is similar, the women teams wouldn’t look different from a distance. We wanted a women’s team that had a marked presence on the roads, and yet was approachable.”
This movement first began way back in 2017 when Delhi’s police force has created an all-female motorcycle squad in an attempt to tackle rising crime against women and was called Raftaar (Speed). The team consisted of specially trained female officers on 600 motorbikes and carry guns, body cameras, pepper spray and stun guns, patrolling crowded, cramped areas of the city in pairs. this September motorcycles were later replaced with scooters and was given a new look with pink-and-white checks painted on them.
The team will consist of 6 policewomen now patrol the vulnerable places in two shifts every day. The two shifts will comprise from 11 am to 1 pm, and then 5 pm to 7 pm. The two-timing is very crucial as in the morning young girls leave school/college while in the evening women and children visit parks or our returning home from work. Sukh Darshan, a member of the patrolling team was quoted saying that “Each pillion rider is armed with a pistol. The scooters are equipped with batons, pepper spray, and hooters. When we move, the public must know of our presence.”
The route will consist of Maujpur, Babarpur, Durgapuri, Nand Nagri, Main Wazirabad Road, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Khajuri Chowk, Shastri Park, Dharampura and Pusta Road– clocking a total distance of about 20km, twice every day.
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