The State police will form “rapid response teams” (RRTs) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode to prevent crimes against women and children, according to the State Budget for 2012-13. The budgetary allocation for the State police is Rs.46 crore.
A senior official said the teams, having a women component, would be attached to the police control rooms. The units will be the police department's first level of empathetic and firm response to complaints of domestic violence, dowry harassment, sexual exploitation, workplace harassment, stalking, harassment in public places, and various modes of civic transport. They will form the first line of defence for women who find themselves in distress.
According to the police, last year till June, 546 cases of rape and 1,816 cases of molestation were reported in the State. As many as 101 women were kidnapped. There were six “dowry-related deaths” and 2,679 cases of cruelty by husbands or in-laws. As many as 347 women complained that they were harassed and stalked in public places. Officials said the number of cases reported were just a fraction of the offences committed against women in Kerala.
Police stations will be made “women friendly.” The police will carry out awareness campaigns to empower women and children and to make them conscious of their rights. The police will undertake schemes to ensure the welfare of senior citizens. More police aid-posts will be created at tourist destinations.
The budget also proposed a State Bureau of Investigation, on the lines of the Central Bureau of Investigation, to solve crimes requiring sustained investigation. The State Forensic Sciences Laboratory will be further modernised.
The government will start dairy farms at the Women's Central Prison at Viyyur.
