‘Hats off,’ say netizens about cop who set up ‘Mobile Safety’ to help domestic violence victims

The police officer shares how one incident acted as an eye-opener and prompted her to help others in similar situations.

A post about how a police officer in Telangana set up special ‘Mobile Safety’ during the coronavirus-induced lockdown in order to help victims of domestic violence has left many inspired.

The police officer has been featured on the Humans of Bombay pages. (Facebook/Humans of Bombay)

In the post, shared on the Humans of Bombay pages, the officer has shared how one incident acted as an eye-opener and prompted her to help others in similar situations.

The post features Rema Rajeshwari, Superintendent of Police, Mahabubnagar. She shares how a month into the lockdown, she received a call from a woman in Kanpur who hadn’t been able to contact her sister for three days. “Her husband would hit her, and she was worried it had happened again,” Rajeshwari says. “So we sent a dispatch team and found her in such a terrible condition, it shook me,” she adds.

The woman eventually recovered, and the officer even arranged inter-state travel passes so she could live with her sister.

“That incident was an eye opener – there were so many victims of domestic violence living with their abusers and they couldn’t even file a complaint!” she says. That’s when she set up ‘Mobile Safety’. She explains how officers would drive around the district in a vehicle and within two weeks, they had 40 cases.

That’s not all. Rajeshwari says that during the past few months, she and her team have offered help to many. From a pregnant woman who needed help to setting up shelters and food banks to helping migrant workers reach home, she details the work that her team has done.

At the end of the post, though, she mentions how last week, a majority of her team tested positive and have since been quarantined. “Still, the only question they ask me is, ‘Madam! When can we get back in action?’ Such is the love for our duty!’” she says.

Read the entire post below:

The moving post has struck a chord with many. Since being shared on August 6, it has received over 43,000 likes on Instagram and more than 1,100 shares on Facebook.

“Hats off!” writes a Facebook user. “What an inspiration!” shares another. “So much respect for your team and their service and the protection you provided to one and all over and above your personal safety and families,” adds an individual on Facebook.