Facing flak, police tone down advisory to women on safety

Dress decently. Avoid late nights. Be well-behaved. Avoid travelling in crowded bus or train. Be street smart. These were some of the measures suggested by the Bidhannagar Police Commisionerate on the city’s north-eastern fringes to women.

But hours after the suggestions posted on the Commisionerate’s website went viral on the social media attracting criticism, the 12-point advisory under “Tips for Crime Prevention” was reduced to seven points. Even the heading was changed from “Ways to deal with eve-teasing” to “How to remain safe.”

“The entire episode speaks volumes about the attitude of the police. Their mindset is far from being women-friendly,” Sunanda Mukherjee, chairperson of West Bengal Commission for Women, told

The Hindu over telephone.

Woman activist and academician Saswati Ghosh said that in all cases of assault on women that had occurred in West Bengal in the recent past, women were “dressed decently” and “well-behaved.”

“Even if women were to follow the bizarre suggestions of the police, the crime against them will not come down. The suggestions imply that in any such crime, the police feel the victim is responsible,” she said.

Former IPS officer Sandhi Mukherjee said the episode reflected the dilemma of the West Bengal police. “In an ideal situation, there is no scope for such advisories but when the rule of law is compromised for political interest and anti-social elements do not fear the police, such advisories are a kind of desperate attempt by the police.”

Crime against women in the State over the past few years has been a matter of concern. The State ranked third in crimes against women, according to the Crimes in India 2013 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau in June 2014. The State recorded 29,836 cases of crime against women, registering a marginal drop from 30,942 recorded as per the NCRB 2013 report, when it ranked first.