Make police women’s cell more effective: Satheedevi

Ms. Satheedevi called for appointment of necessary personnel to the women’s cell. Support, including counselling, should be provided the moment cases reach the cell. File

The women’s cell of the police should be made more effective for strong interventions to address domestic problems, Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson P. Satheedevi has said.

She was speaking after disposing of complaints on the second day of the commission’s district-level sitting at Jawahar Balbhavan here on Tuesday.

Ms. Satheedevi called for appointment of necessary personnel to the women’s cell. Support, including counselling, should be provided the moment cases reach the cell. Such interventions would help address domestic disputes smoothly right there.

Though such a mechanism existed in the State, complaints reaching the commission indicated it was not being used effectively. People knocked at the commission’s doors when complaints to the police did not yield any results.

Most complaints received for consideration at the sitting pertained to problems in the domestic sphere. The laws framed to protect women within the four walls of their homes were very strong, but mechanisms provided in the law were not ensured for various reasons. Courts were issuing protection orders for women to stay in their husbands’ houses safely as per the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. However, despite this police are unable to provide protection to women in many cases. There were also problems in the way the police dealt with such complaints in the police station, she pointed out.

Domestic problems were on the rise in Thiruvananthapuram district. The domestic environment was a grave issue here. Most of these began at the time of marriage and continued, she said.

There was need to provide premarital counselling. Though dowry was banned, it was still provided in cash and kind, but without any proper documents. When disputes arose, it became difficult to prove the charges. Even if the court was approached, it became difficult to prove what was given in evidence. It was better to record what was given as gifts at the time of the marriage itself, she said.

As many as 230 complaints were considered at the sitting. Of these, 29 were settled, while police investigation report was sought in 15 complaints. Counselling was recommended in six complaints. A total of 180 complaints were postponed to the next sitting.