The Perambalur Police have reached out to villagers sensitising them to child and women safety besides explaining the dangers of child marriage and the need to check offences committed against women and minors by bringing them to the notice of the law enforcers for speedy intervention.
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Perabalur Police have been carrying out a drive to sensitise villagers regarding child and women safety issues and reporting the crime to the police to facilitate timely intervention.
The Anti Child Trafficking Unit of the Perambalur District Police has been carrying this out in a sustained manner as instances of sexual assaults committed against minors and child marriage attempts having been reported in the district. The police visit the interior villages and interact with the locals, and speaking to school and college students separately.
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They have so far visited about 40 to 45 villages in the district in the current year. The team also interacted with women labourers engaged under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme during their visits.
The team has been conveying to the villagers to pass on any information relating to harassment or violence committed against women, attempts to marry minor girls and crimes against children to ensure safety of affected women and children, said S. Vijayalakshmi, Inspector, Anti Child Trafficking Unit, Perambalur. The team has set its eye on covering all the villages in the district this year.
Simultaneously, they have also been visiting schools and colleges to speak about the POCSO Act, dangers of child marriage, the hazards of consumption of narcotic substances, role of organisations and units working for child safety.
The students were told to desist from sharing their photographs or their personal details with strangers online as this could be misused. The phone numbers of the Anti Child Trafficking Unit and the Childline were shared with the students to convey any instance of child marriage or abuse of children. They were also told that the information conveyed by them would be anonymous and acted would be taken swiftly, said Ms. Vijayalakshmi.
The team has so far covered around 25 educational institutions in the district. Police sources said about 15 child marriages have been stopped in the district during October 2021 to April 2023. The number of POCSO Act cases reported in the district was 22 from January to April this year.