Alleging that it was “fed up with the lack of prompt responses from the local police in crimes against women”, a panchayat of several villages in the Baghpat district of western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday constituted its own ‘village security force’ to provide safety and security to its women.
The participants in the village council at Azadnagar in the Baraut area of Baghpat were vocal about “not trusting the competency of law enforcement agencies in curbing crimes against women”.
Ashok Chaudhry, who was one of over fifty elders who attended the village council, told The Hindu on phone from Baghpat: “Incidents like the Bulandshahr gang rape and increasing reports of eve teasing and crimes against our women led us to be concerned about the safety of our women. It is quite normal to see that a woman in distress does not get a prompt response from police helpline numbers.”
