Mahila mithra committees planned to check crime against women

Responsible citizens will be roped in for concerted action, says SP

Superintendent of Police S. Senthil Kumar on Monday said that in order to usher in ‘zero crime against women’, mahila mithra committees would be formed at village and mandal level, and they would be headed by women constables in coordination with responsible members from all walks of life.

Addressing a meeting of women circle inspectors, sub-inspectors and constables from Madanapalle, Palamaner, Chittoor, Puttur and Sri City sub-divisions at the Police Guest House here, Mr. Kumar said that each committee would have lawyers, teachers, women paramedical staff, Aasha workers, Anganwadi staff, bank officials, DWCRA group leaders and women constables as members. “A woman constable would be the coordinator of the committee, while the woman circle inspector at the Mahila Police Station in Chittoor would be the district coordinator,” the SP said.

Volunteers welcome

Women members could voluntarily join the panels and come out with their ideas and suggestions to tackle crime against women. The committees would attend the grievances of women and children, receive complaints and petitions from them, plan strategies to reduce and prevent crimes against them, create awareness among the target group on their rights, and hold counselling for the safety of the target group by reaching out to households, educational institutions and work places.

Special drives would be conducted through the committees to identify missing and street children and for those employed in risky environments. “The panels would also concentrate on eve-teasing, elopements, suicides among women, cyber frauds targeting women, child trafficking, child marriages and cases of school dropouts,” Mr. Kumar said.

Additional SP E. Supraja provided orientation to the women police personnel about modalities of the mahila mithra committees, registration of the members and the action plan.