State will soon have special police stations for women

In a couple of months, Mumbai and eight other police commissionerates in the state will have special police stations and helpline for

women. The police station will be managed by women police personnel. An announcement to this effect was made on Friday by the minister of state for home (rural) Nitin Raut.

The state has witnessed an increase in crimes like dowry harassment, molestation, rape and atrocities against women. However, in many cases it is found that women who were victims of rape, molestation and other sexual crimes feel awkward while reporting these incidents to the local police stations, Raut stated.

"To curb such incidents, the state government has decided to have a separate police station for women so that they can freely a crime or a complaint,'' the minister added.

According to the official figures, in past four years (2005 to 2008), there have been 6,054 cases of rape and 8,172 people have been arrested for it.

Apart from nine police commissionerates-Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nashik and Solapur-each district in the state will have one police station, especially meant for women. Each police station will have a senior police inspector, four sub-inspectors and 30 head constables. The5se police stations will be monitored by officers of the rank of the joint commissioner of police in that respective area, Raut added.

The state government has also decided to set up a separate toll-free helpline and legal advice dedicated to women. "On this helpline number, women can register a complaint or crime. Also, free legal advice will be given to the victims,'' Raut said. The helpline is expected to start in a month.