Police launch ‘Operation Nirbheek’ to fight sex crimes in Delhi

The Delhi police have launched a new initiative named “Operation Nirbheek” for school and college girls to make them aware about sexual crimes.

The Delhi police have launched a new initiative named “Operation Nirbheek” for school and college girls to make them aware about sexual crimes and educate them about ‘good touch and bad touch’.

The initiative — primarily aimed at curbing cases of sexual harassment against school and college-going girls — was launched at all the 160 police stations across the city’s 11 police districts.

Under Operation Nirbheek, the SHOs of all police stations have been asked to appoint one female police officer for educating girls about sexual crimes and punishments in all schools and colleges falling under their jurisdiction. The appointed female officer will be identified as Nirbheek woman police officer (NWPO) and will be personally monitored and supervised by the ACP of the sub-division concerned.

The SHO will personally introduce the appointed Nirbheek officers to the principals of schools and colleges. The Nirbheek woman police officers will visit schools and colleges once or twice a week and meet girl students. A senior police officer said the designated women officers will interact with girls and encourage them to share their bad experiences pertaining to sexual harassment.

“The Nirbheek officers will organise special sessions at schools and colleges to educate students about sexual crimes and their consequences/punishments through small documentaries and short group plays. Through graphical presentation and animation movies, the girls will be taught to differentiate between good touch and bad touch,” said a senior police officer.

Apart from educating female students about sexual crimes, the Nirbheek team will also install letter/complaint boxes at schools and colleges. During the interactive sessions, girls will be encouraged to share their experiences related to sexual harassment or to simply write and drop a letter if they so wanted to. The identities of girls filing complaints through this new scheme will kept a secret, the officer said.

“This soft trial of this scheme was launched in northeast district and the response was very encouraging. Several complaints were received from students and appropriate action taken,” the officer said.