Mumbai: Now every police station in Mumbai will have a special squad named as ‘Nirbhaya Squad’ which will address safety concerns of women in the city. The decision came on Tuesday after the Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale issued a circular in the aftermath of a 32-year-old woman who was brutally assaulted, raped and murdered inside a tempo at Sakinaka recently.
Nagrale’s circular states that from now on Mobile-5 vehicle of the police station will be called the "Nirbhaya squad" which will comprise a woman police officer of the rank API or PSI, and a woman police constable. The decision comes a day after the Mumbai police chief had announced a slew of steps to ensure safety of women in the city.
The "Nirbhaya Squad" and a women safety cell will be set up in every police station across the city. Along with the women staff, a policeman and a driver will be present in the squad. Two days of special training will be given to each member of the squad. A woman ACP and a woman police inspector from each region will be appointed as nodal officer for the Nirbhaya squad.
According to the circular, the squad will conduct special patrolling at children’s homes, girl's hostels and orphanage in their area, and have been asked to gather intelligence if any woman or children are being harassed. The squad has been asked to prepare a list of sexual offenders from the last five years and monitor their moments.
Mumbai police chief has also asked police stations to identify hotspots where women have been targeted in the past, and to plan patrolling accordingly. Patrolling should be also conducted at secluded and crowded places. Police stations have also been asked to prepared a list of woman senior citizens staying alone, and to visit them during patrolling and solve issues they have.
Additional police commissioners of each region have been asked to provide pen cameras and other advanced gadgets to the Nirbhaya squad members, and footages and evidence collected through these devices will be used as evidence in cases of stalking, stated the circular.
The "Nirbhaya" squad have also been asked to arrange self-defence camps at schools, colleges, and women hostels, and to install a complaint box which was to be checked routinely.
As per the latest directions, counselling centres should be started at regional and zonal level for minor boys and girls. Psychiatrist of an organization named ‘M Power’ will counsel sexual assault victims at these centres. The squad have been asked to make awareness in women and children of slum areas about POCSO act.
The 'Nirbhaya squad' is being set up with aim of creating a sense of respect for women in society and also create fear of law, states the circular
