The National Commission for Women (NCW) has expressed dissatisfaction over the report from the Haryana DGP on the recent rape incidents in the state and asked the police to take more steps to ensure safety and security of women.
The commission also asked the Haryana Police to be more sensitive towards women when they go to police stations to lodge their complaints.
Haryana recently witnessed several cases of sexual assault, including the alleged rape and murder of two minor Dalit girls in which a 15-year-old girl's half-naked body was found om Saturday from near a canal in Jind district.
"During the last five to six days, seven cases have taken place. I had written a letter to the DGP regarding the Jind incident. When I wrote the letter, till then there were three incidents.
"I had sought a report within 48 hours from him, which he sent afterwards. But, I was not satisfied with the report as it mentioned details of mostly the IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections, under which the cases were registered," the panel's chairperson, Rekha Sharma, told reporters in Panchkula.
In a meeting with the top brass of the Haryana Police, Sharma urged them to take more steps to ensure safety and security of women.
She said that the police had assured her that they were taking necessary steps and that strict action was being taken in these incidents.
The NCW will start a sensitisation and training programme for police personnel in the state from next month so that they are more sensitive and humane when women approach them with complaints, Sharma said, adding that the modalities for it have been worked out.
"I had earlier written to the DGP and the chief minister also regarding police behaviour. I mentioned that the approach of the police should be more humane, especially in women police stations where the general grievance is that officers don't meet them," she said.
"The feedback we receive is that women, generally, are made to sit for hours at the police station when they come with their complaints. This mindset to see them through a prism of suspicion has to change and everyone needs to be sensitised about this," she said replying to a question.
Sharma also said that when the police in the past were asked about the increase in crime incidents, they said that they were short of staff.
"I raised this issue with the DGP who has assured that the police was going for large-scale recruitments shortly," she said.
The NCW chairperson also took strong objection to ADGP (Ambala Range) R C Mishra's statement in the context of the recent rape incidents.
The officer had reportedly said, "Such incidents have happened in our society in the past too. The job of the police is to investigate, catch criminals and prove it by backing it with evidence."
She said that such remarks were insensitive and should not have been made.
"It is wrong to say that such things (rape incidents) have been taking place for centuries. This is why we have to sensitise cops and tell them that such things are not absolutely normal and you have to act on this. I feel that we should have such sensitisation programmes in police training academies," she said.
To another question, she batted for having more fast- track courts for speedy trial of rape cases.
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