Stressing that no society can progress by ignoring women, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that his government is giving top priority to security of women.
Speaking after flagging off two Pink Police Patrol vehicles for Kannur and Thalassery at a function here on Wednesday, Mr. Vijayan said that at a time when attacks on women and children were on the increase, facilities such as the Pink Police Patrol should be in place to check them. The police force should also act in due seriousness to check violence against women and children, he said.
“The Pink Police Patrol is meant to ensure that there is no compromise on providing security to women,” the Chief Minister said, adding that no policy or programme of the government that ignored women would succeed.
Mr. Vijayan said that women’s security could not be set aside when the situation in the country called for enhanced initiatives to ensure their safety. Recalling the outpouring of public outrage in the wake of the Nirbhaya gangrape incident and the Perumbavoor murder case, he said that women and children were not safe even in their houses.
Tip of the iceberg
Reported cases of molestation of women and attacks on them were just a tip of the iceberg, he said, adding that victims often abstained from lodging complaint because of fear of shame, he said.
Mr. Vijayan also said that victims of such attacks were often traumatised by the police during investigation.
The patrol vehicles could be contacted by dialling 1515. Twenty-two women police personnel had been posted for the patrol vehicles having tracking facilities to respond and act quickly.
At the function, the Chief Minister released the book Corporate Deceptions authored by Kannur Deputy Superintendent of Police P.P. Sadanandan.
He said that the book was relevant at a time when people were trapped by various types of fraudulent investment schemes. Mr. Vijayan also disbursed financial assistance to 36 beneficiaries under the district police’s ‘Athura Mithram’ scheme to help patients from poor backgrounds.
Ports Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran presided. Additional Director General of Police (North Zone) Rajesh Diwan, District Collector Mir Mohammed Ali, District Police Chief K.P. Philip, Kerala Armed Police Battalion IV Commandant K. Sanjay Kumar, and district panchayat vice president P.P. Divya were present.
