The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Invisible protection for women Law and order

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Invisible protection for women Law and order

To prevent harassment of women, the city police have a yellow brigade, which mingles with the public, writes
R. Sujatha

Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam.

HOW SAFE ARE WOMEN?: Now that schools have reopened, there is a need for improving safety around educational institutions. —

Every year, immediately after schools and colleges reopen, there is a spate of incidents of harassment in the areas surrounding the institutions run exclusively for women. Though so far no major incident has been reported this year, police personnel have been put on alert.

To prevent harassment of women, the city police have a yellow brigade, which mingles with the public and watches for offenders. The police personnel in plainclothes move around in important places such as colleges, railway stations, markets, bus stands, and beaches. “This is called invisible protection. But rarely do we get complaints of eve-teasing,” says a senior police official.

Women inspectors have been asked to form teams and patrol the stretches near schools and colleges during the morning and evening hours. In the past three days, in Triplicane two youths were secured for harassing women. But complaints have been few and far between, the police say.

A few weeks ago, a woman software engineer travelling with her husband on a motorcycle was harassed by three men. The culprits chased the couple and resorted to physical harassment of the woman.

She informed the police who apprehended the men and sent them to prison. One of them, a habitual offender, was detained under the Goondas Act.

To prevent workplace harassment, Vishaka committees have been formed with a woman inspector as the head. There are four teams consisting of 20 women constables who attend to complaints of harassment at workplace, police officials say.

Figuring prominently in the list of crimes, in which women are the targets, are the incidents of chain-snatching. Almost every day incidences of chain-snatching are reported from different parts of the city. In some cases, the police have been successful in apprehending the culprit.

But incidences of eve-teasing are often not reported because it is considered a trivial issue. In an incident a few months ago at a college in Anna Nagar, a girl was allegedly relieved of her gold chain and locked up in a toilet. But no police complaint was lodged and the college watchman said such an incident could not have occurred as the college was busy all day. The parents did not prefer a complaint either.

Taruna Hinduja, who holds self-defence classes for women, says awareness is the key to preventing attack. “Women can smell danger and should heed their intuition by seeking out crowded places,” she says. Carrying a whistle, taking alternative routes home from school/college, and skipping a bus stop are methods to keep stalkers away, she says.

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