Gautam Budh Nagar disbands women’s safety units at all police stations

Three complaints of corruption and negligence in duty against officers assigned to these units were found to be true, said commissioner of police Laxmi Singh

Three years after they were formed, the Gautam Budh Nagar police commissioner has disbanded the women safety units at all 27 police stations in the district following allegations of corruption and negligence on the part of officers assigned to the units, police officers familiar with the development said on Monday.

Laxmi Singh, commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, issued the order to disband the women’s safety units on July 27. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

“It was discovered that the women’s safety units were causing a schism at the police station because they operated independently. Furthermore, three complaints of corruption and negligence in duty against officers assigned to these units were found to be true following an internal investigation. As a result, these units have been disbanded, and the officers assigned to them have been directed to immediately report to the deputy commissioner of police for their respective zones,” said commissioner of police Laxmi Singh.

On June 5, 2020, six months after the commissionerate system was implemented in Gautam Budh Nagar, a new structure was implemented in the district under which every police station was provided with a women’s safety unit that would take note of issues faced by women and children and take appropriate action to address them. Each unit had two sub-inspectors and constables to investigate all relevant cases.

The safety units were formed to take effective steps to stop crimes against women and children.

However,the dichotomy at the police stations was that the station house officers and area deputy commissioners of police were frequently unaware of the cases referred to the safety units, said commissioner Singh. It was also discovered that several women-related complaints were being handled by the safety units in a counselling capacity rather than by registering cases, she added. The commissioner also discovered that cases under the safety units were being resolved slowly. Furthermore, administrative orders regarding transfers of officers under women safety units were being issued independently, while headquarters was unaware of these transfers, said Singh.

The police refused to give details on the three complaints of corruption and negligence against the women’s safety unit officers.

The order to disband these units was issued on July 27, said officers.

Police officers aware of the matter said that the disbanding of women’s safety units would not adversely impact how the police investigate women-related cases. To that end, Singh said officers in the district had now been instructed to complete investigations and file chargesheets in women-related cases within seven days of receiving the complaint.

“In cases where suspects in women-related crimes have been arrested, we have started providing victims with case-specific counselling. We are also physically verifying arrested suspects to keep them under scrutiny,” said the commissioner.

After the disbanding of the safety units, the police are focusing on increasing women’s safety on the ground through community outreach and increased patrolling, she said.

“Community awareness programmes are being run at the district level to prevent crimes against women. In these programmes, officers under the deputy commissioner of police (women’s safety) raise public awareness about government schemes, helpline numbers, the police system, and laws on the rights of women and children,” said commissioner Singh.

According to Preeti Yadav, additional deputy commissioner of police (women’s safety), decoy operations are being conducted in the district as part of the Mission Shakti programme, in which police officers in plain clothes roam the city’s busy market areas and take legal action against alleged molesters.

“We have held 5,000 community outreach programmes in offices, factories, schools, colleges, high-rise societies, sectors, and villages in the last six months. In each district, 750 WhatsApp groups have been formed with 20,000 people connected to their respective women-beat police officers. In addition, a resident from each area has been identified as ‘Shakti Didi’, who acts as a bridge between all residents and the police in resolving women-related complaints,” said Yadav.

Commissioner Singh said the district has resolved 100% of women’s complaints in the last six months. “While women safety units have been disbanded, each police station still has a women’s helpdesk that will take feedback from female complainants,” said Singh.