Delhi top cop meets Girija Vyas over women’s safety

NEW DELHI - Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta Tuesday met National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Girija Vyas, who put forth measures that can be taken to increase the security of women in the capital in the backdrop of escalating cases of rape and assault.

Vyas submitted a list of 12 demands to ensure a better safety net for women in the city.

“Our list of demands basically outline measures that can be taken to ensure safety for women in the city,” an NCW official said.

“One demand, therefore, is that there should be more police patrolling on the roads and that a 24-hour women desk should be there at all police stations to handle cases of harassment of women more effectively.”

Among the other demands are checking speeding cars and those with tinted glasses by the police, ensuring that BPO cabs have GPRS installed in them and a woman security official when women are travelling and an effective women’s helpline.

“From the gangrape case of the BPO employee, we learn that the victim’s friend had called the police but got no immediate help because the police couldn’t understand her. So the person sitting on the other end of the helpline should be trained so that these language barriers can be removed,” the official said.

“We also demanded fast track courts to handle cases of harassment of women and awareness programmes involving the Residents Welfare Associations (RWA), NGOs and the police,” the official added.

In Delhi, an 18-year-old girl was abducted and raped in a moving vehicle by four youths, including a minor, after she protested their lewd remarks in Sultanpuri area late Saturday.

The incident came days after a 30-year-old BPO employee was abducted and raped by four men in south Delhi and a 22-year-old woman was abducted and raped by six men in northeast Delhi - triggering a huge outcry over the issue of safety of women in the city.