A delegation representing 22 women’s and human rights organisations met Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Friday to demand a comprehensive police reform initiative.
Led by former National Commission for Women chairperson V. Mohini Giri, the activists said there was a need to include gender sensitisation in training modules. Dr. Giri, the chairperson of the Guild of Service, had been attacked by a group of men when she tried to help a young woman being molested in South Delhi last month.
She said cops in the area refused to come to her rescue. Dr. Giri had sent a complaint to the Commissioner, but was not interested in filing an FIR and pursuing the case. She said the activists demanded a larger response, not restricted to her own case.
“The Commissioner assured us that he would meet citizens at his office from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. without appointment,” said Dr. Giri.
She added that Mr. Bassi had agreed to attend a conference on police reforms being organised on September 28, and assured them that a gender sensitisation programme would be put in place by year-end. The activists also asked the Commissioner to circulate a list of standard operating procedures to all police stations so from the point a complainant walks in to report a crime, uniform guidelines are followed.
The delegation included former Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising and National Federation of Indian Women general secretary Annie D. Raja, apart from representatives from the NCW, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, the Human Rights Law Network and the All-India Democratic Women’s Association.
