House panel discusses anti-romeo squad in UP

The people quoted above said the issue was raised by Union minister and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Singh. “The MP wanted to know how UP was tackling situations related to women’s safety,” a person familiar with the matter said.

The parliamentary panel on home affairs on Wednesday grilled Uttar Pradesh officials over the approach to women’s safety in the state and efficacy of its anti-Romeo squad.

The parliamentary panel on home affairs on Wednesday questioned Uttar Pradesh officials over the approach to women’s safety in the state and the efficacy of its anti-Romeo squad.

People familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times that issued was raised by union minister and senior UP BJP leader Satya Pal Singh. Singh is a former IPS officer. “The MP wanted to know how UP was tackling situations related to women’s safety,” a person familiar with the matter said. “He asked the officials about the anti-Romeo squad and said that no FIRs had been registered by them.”

According to the person, Singh added that most of the complaints at the local level were also not registered by the police.

The anti-Romeo squad, a dedicated police wing set up to prevent harassment of women, was started in 2017, shortly after Yogi Adityanath took over as chief minister. The squad faced severe criticism from all corners for needlessly targeting couples.

HT reached out Satya Pal Singh but he declined to comment on the matter.

The panel, led by Congress leader Anand Sharma, met on Wednesday to hear the views of representatives of State Governments of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on the subject Atrocities and Crimes against Women Children.

Among other concerns flagged by the panel was Congress leader P Bhattacharya’s concern that the meetings weren’t be attended by senior officials from the state such as the chief secretary and director-general of police, people familiar with the matter said.

The BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha raised the issue of atrocities against children in Rajasthan. “Sinha pointed out to Rajasthan officials that crimes against children had jumped 87% in Jaipur and 66% across Rajasthan in just one year,” the person mentioned above said.

The person added that the Parliamentarian had also pushed for operation Nirbheek, which was launched by the Delhi Police in 2015 to promote the safety of school and college going girls, to go national. Under the operation, the Station House Officers (SHOs) had to appoint a Nirbheek Woman Police Officer (NWPO) who would regularly visit schools and colleges to explain different sexual crimes to women.

BJP MP Bhupendra Yadav pointed out mistakes in the document presented before the committee.