Anie Siva, whose inspiring tale of becoming a police officer after being abandoned with a six-month-old son at 18 years of age hit national headlines recently, assumed charge as sub-inspector at the Central station here on Wednesday.
The city and the Central station is not alien to Ms. Siva, originally from Kanjiramkulam in Thiruvananthapuram district.
She had spent over seven months of her ten-and-a-half months of her probationary period at the Central station.
Asked about the challenge of being posted at one of the busiest stations in the State, Ms. Siva said that being a cop is a challenge that lasts till the day of retirement. “So, I don’t look at it as specially challenging,” she said.
As her inspiring rise emerged at a time when a spate of alleged dowry-related deaths rocked the moral fabric of Kerala society, women empowerment is something that is tossed at her at every turn. But Ms. Siva finds it quite strange.
“Do women need any special empowerment? If people are compassionate to their fellow human beings and parents are given a bit of awareness, then the problems faced by women will be addressed to a large extent,” she said.
Ms. Siva’s initial posting at Varkala police station has a cinematic feel to it as it is the same place where she had once sold ice cream and lemonade to survive as a single mother shortly after being abandoned both by her husband and her family.
She had married her boy friend against her family’s desire while doing her first-year graduation. However, the couple got separated in two years and Ms. Siva found herself on the street with her toddler.
She dabbled in many jobs, from selling curry powder and soap to an insurance agent and door delivery of essential items. She used the earnings to complete her graduation.
Ms. Siva joined the service as a civil police officer in 2016 before cracking the SI test three years later.
