Monica, Delhi's lone female traffic inspector, leads with compassion and strength

New Delhi: Monica stands tall as the only woman traffic inspector among her 49 other male peers in Delhi Police, ready to take up challenges that come her way while discharging her duty on the streets of the national capital.

Monica believes that the emotional quotient that women bring to the table helps them solve people's queries and problems more efficiently.

"Men are brought up to act tough, and hence, when people reach out to male officers, a lot of them do not consider it a problem, saying it is a problem everyone faces. However, women officers listen to them carefully and try to resolve it as soon as possible," she said.

Five years into her service, a colleague allegedly slammed her for asking for leave because her daughter was sick. "Why do you want equality when you can sit at home and cook for the family?" he said.

However, she made it her mission to not let these things get to her and took up many challenging roles, including that of an inspecting officer (IO) in northeast Delhi, where she handled more than 250 cases of POCSO and rape.

She claimed she was pregnant when she was handling these cases and had to visit court regularly.

"Some would be generous enough to offer me to sit. However, many times I used to stand throughout the day while handling such sensitive cases. But I did it because becoming a mother made me realise how important the work that I am doing is. If I can't bear the thought of my child or daughter being in pain, how can I let anyone else's children go through the same," she added.

Monica also added that she owed her career to the support of the three men in her life -- her husband, father and younger brother -- who helped her become financially independent and empowered.

"While there are people who do not understand women and their problems, men in my life have always pushed me to stand on my own feet. My father motivated me to join the services and become independent. My brother always supports me in all my decisions and my husband helps me in the household as much as possible, so I can do my duty without any worries," she said.

However, she admits the police department has a lot to work on so that more women can serve the nation without having to go through any additional trouble. She recalls it was hard to find a female washroom in events till three years ago.

"They used to make one washroom, which male inspectors used and one for officers. We would have to hold it or go somewhere far. It was only after the complaints by women officers that changes started to come and they made one more for us with a female signboard on it," she said.

She also explained how menstruating officers are unable to speak about their problems to their peers or superiors as they are mostly male and the lack of basic amenities create more disadvantages.

"We work for 14 hours on average, spending our time on the field wearing our uniforms. The first two days of menstruation are usually harder. But since people consider it an excuse from our duty if we say anything, we do it somehow. If only there were more females in the services, we could have shared our issues more freely," Monica said.

However, she remains hopeful that things will change and more women will join the field in the near future. "I would like to ask more girls to step in this field and prepare themselves both mentally and physically," she said.