Violence against women on the ebb in Jammu region: IGP

Jammu, PTI: The graph of violence against women in Jammu region has shown a marked a decline over the last three years, a top police officer said.

Incidents of rape, kidnapping, molestation, eve-teasing and domestic violence against women are down this year compared to those in the previous two years.

The trend is reflective of various pro-active measures taken by the state government and the department, Inspector General of Police (Jammu) S D Singh Jamwal said.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, after assuming office, had issued orders for setting up of four additional women police stations - two each in Jammu & Kashmir regions - so that women can seek redressal of their grievances in areas close to their homes.

In April last year, the government had announced setting up of the four women police stations, one each in Rajouri and Udhampur districts in Jammu and Baramulla, and Anantnag in Kashmir and sanctioned 208 posts (52 for each station).

All-women police stations are already functional in Jammu and Srinagar districts and setting up of the four new police stations, which started functioning in May last year, strengthened the efforts to tackle violence against women in a better way, Jamwal said.

The senior police officer said 151 rape cases were registered in Jammu region till the end of September against 190 in 2015 and 188 last year.

"Of the 151 rape cases, charge sheets were filed in 55 cases, while 85 are still under investigation," he said, adding 11 cases were not admitted.

There were 506 cases of kidnapping in 2015 but the number came down to 274 until the end of September. A total of 352 cases were registered last year, Jamwal said.

He said five cases of dowry deaths were registered till September 30, while charge sheets were filed in two cases and three others were still under investigation.

Last year, six dowry deaths were reported and five such cases were registered in 2015, the officer said.

He said around 150 cases of cruelty towards women by husbands and others were registered till September-end against 273 in 2016 and 219 in 2015. Charge sheets were filed this year in 57 cases, while 87 are still under investigation.

Jamwal said the police have registered around 300 cases of molestation till September.

Of these, charge sheets were filed in 219 cases and 73 were under various stages of the investigation.

As many as 377 cases of molestation were registered in 2016, while 370 such cases were filed in 2015, he said.

A total of 66 cases of eve-teasing were reported this year while 83 such cases were registered last year and 73 the year earlier, the officer said.

The strength of women police force in the region has increased manifold and some of the women officers of the state have been directly recruited as Deputy Superintendents of Police through state civil services examination.

A 33-member women police wing headed by a sub-inspector was established in the state in 1965 and their duties included assistance to investigating staff in arrests, searches and interrogation of women offenders and suspects.

They are also deployed during demonstrations by women and for the screening of women passengers at Jammu and Srinagar airports.