Indore: “Ek akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai” (A lone girl is like an open treasure chest). This dialogue from the blockbuster Jab We Met is enough to describe situation prevailing in the society.
To break this stereotype and to ensure that the girls in the city feel safe, Indore police has started a self-defence and awareness programme for school girls.
Indore police designed the programme under an expert team and reached out to all schools. Department entrust responsibility on Savita Jain, 26, a female constable posted at Indore’s MG Road police station, who holds black belt in martial arts, to oversee the programme.
They are also sharing information regarding women helpline and other emergency numbers apart from imparting basic martial arts training on how to tackle untoward incidents.
Jain who recently visited Mumbai was praised and felicitated by none other than Bollywood hunks – Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan during Entertainment ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega – Shabash India for her exemplary work.
Briefing about the training programme, Jain said that flying kicks, elbow strikes, middle punches, drop kicks and other fighting and defence techniques are a regular feature of the daily training given to the school girls.
Jain who started the training programme from Subhash Marg situated Saraswati Government Girls School on Saturday said her main purpose of training them is the thought that once they have learnt the tricks, they will spread this skills among other girls and older women,” says Jain.
On the opening day of the programme, more than two dozen girls from the school were given self-defence training on Saturday.
Savita has an expertise in dealing cases like eve teasing as she easily jelled with school and college going girls and the girls shared their ordeals with her. The girls looked at her as a elder sister and not someone from the police.
“Our emphasis is not on attacking techniques, but on how to defend oneself. Some of the fundamental techniques we teach the girls include using a pen to get rid of your attacker, grabbing and pulling the hair of the attacker, and dealing with miscreants in a crowded bus,” says Jain, a constable.
Senior Superintendent of Police Ruchi Vardhan Mishra who was instrumental in designing this programme praised Jain and other officials who come forward and associated with the programme.
Officer said that department had three to four such officials who were willing to act as mentors of the training programme.
“This is our achievement and we will motivate them to carry out such programmes in future at more government schools and that enable us to train more girls,” SSP Mishra said.
