“My husband Srinivas used to harass me and beat me after having a drink every day. For about 10 years I did not dare approach the police. Only after the establishment of Chetana centre, I am able to reach the police with some confidence that they would help me. Many more similar counselling centres are needed for people like us,” said P. Rani in the presence of police personnel, counsellors and psychologists.
“I used to drink and beat my wife. The counselling held at Chetana centre has completely changed my life and I stopped drinking. My elder son is studying Intermediate at Kukatpally, while second son is studying 10th class and daughter is in class 8th. My life is now going in the right direction ,” said Mr. Srinivas.
Both of them spoke at the 3rd meeting on distress counselling – ‘Chetana Surges ahead’ – held at GITAM University on Wednesday presided over by Medak Superintendent of Police B. Sumathi. Out of the 984 family related disputes that came to Chetana centres, where teachers are donning the role of counsellors, 864 cases were compromised because of counselling while 78 cases were in the process and only 29 cases went to the stage of registering FIR.
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Impressed with the performance of Chetana centres, Swathi Lakra, Additional Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, said that the results of these centres were very impressive and would be replicated across Telangana. “Children suffer due to the infighting between the parents. Think about their psychological conditions. Addressing these problems will be a win-win situation for police and society. At the same time there was a need for change among the police as well and we are imparting training in this regard,” she said.
Former MLC and Hans India editor K. Nageswar appreciated the efforts made by Medak police and said that there was need to rope in more teachers to hold counselling. He said that the society would respond when we extend service.
Dr. K Chandrasekhar, Managing Director, ASHA Hospital, C.S. Balachandra Sunku, Abhaya Foundation, Prof. P. Viraja Rao and others participated in the programme.
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