A two-day workshop on police sensitisation towards crimes against women began at Police lines in Dehradun on Wednesday with various aspects of crimes against women being discussed by senior police officers and subject experts.
Inaugurating the workshop, Uttarakhand DGP BS Sidhu stressed on the importance of sensitisation for facilitating effective and timely redressal of complaints by women. Stressing on the role of the police in tackling gender crimes, Sidhu said that police should treat victims politely and lodge cases under appropriate sections without bias.
DIG Garhwal range, Amit Sinha said that police is the first responder and the first to come in direct contact with a woman victim of crime. The police should keep the victim informed about progress in investigation of the case and maintain communication with the victim during the investigation.
Clinical psychologist Dr Veena Krishnan spoke on the various scenarios in which women are prone to be the victims of varied crimes. Stating that stress is also a major influence on the perpetrator of crime against a woman in some cases, she said that at times people are liable to make mistakes under stress. Citing WHO data, she said that in the future depression is being predicted to be a major affliction. She also gave some important tips to participants of the workshop for reducing stress.
Other speakers including legal experts informed that lodging of an FIR is mandatory in case of a woman being assaulted either sexually or in a dowry case. The participants were also informed about the various Acts and legal provisions related to violence against women.
A police woman who works in the police cyber cell stated that the cell regularly receives cases of sexual assault on women and eve teasing. However, there have been cases wherein the woman complainant was found to have made false allegations, she added.
Earlier, members of the Sambhav Manch Parivar Dehradun staged a play depicting the problems faced by women approaching police to lodge a complaint and the issues facing police tackling crimes against women. About 100 policemen and women attended the first day of the workshop.