LAHORE: Punjab police will set up anti-harassment and violence cells in all provincial districts amid a surge in violent crimes against women in the province, the capital city police officer has said, as a provincial monitor revealed it had received 14,307 complaints of violence against women just this year.
Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous province, has been in the news in recent weeks for crimes against women, including the public assault of a woman at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan monument and the gang rape of a mother and her daughter by a rickshaw driver and his accomplices.
Both incidents have led to widespread public outrage and calls on authorities to ensure the safety of women in public places.
This Monday, Punjab Inspector General Inam Ghani announced at a meeting that anti-harassment and violence cells would be set up across the province and would work under the supervision of city police officers (CPOs) and district police officers (DPOs).
On Tuesday, Lahore Capital City Police Officer Ghulam Mehmood Dogar told Arab News the cells, which would function as reporting centers for crimes, would become operational in “the next few days.”
“We are setting up cells where people can go physically for the registration of their complaints,” he said, adding that the first such center was being set up in Lahore’s Defense Housing Authority while another would be set up at Liberty Chowk within the next two weeks.
“These cells will be equipped with victim counsellors as well, who would play their part in pacifying victims and fulfilling their psychological needs,” Dogar added. “We already have six gender crime cells operational in Lahore, but these are dedicated to investigation of cases concerning harassment and violence against women. The new anti-women harassment cells will work in coordination with these six gender crime cells.”
Dogar said the cells would be centralized and have a one-window operation, where all cases would be monitored for police action and investigation.
The Punjab Commission on Status of Women (PCSW), a statutory body of the Punjab police, told Arab News it had received 14,307 complaints of rape, torture, violence, and harassment of women between January and August this year, showing an average of 1,836 complaints every month.
Of the 14,307 cases, 285 involved murder, kidnapping, abduction and rape, 1,776 workplace and cyber harassment, 2,344 domestic violence, 1,656 property inheritance, 7,149 denial to health and education, and 1,097 divorce, khula and custody of minors, senior PCSW legal executive Imran Qureshi said.
He appreciated the initiative to establish anti-women harassment cells in Punjab but questioned the efficacy of the centers in the absence of special training for police.
“There is no training mechanism available in the province, policemen are not equipped with information kits and other resources to do their jobs realistically,” Qureshi said, saying PCSW held special training of policemen in February and March to help them deal with cases related to women.
But Lahore Deputy Inspector General Investigation Shariq Kamal said women police would work as victim support officers (VPOs) at the newly established centers to ensure their efficacy.
“A special unit of women police personnel will provide all possible support to affected women,” he said, adding that there would be a VPO in each case, appointed based on the nature of the crime.