Mumbai Police Launches 91 Dedicated Nirbhaya Squads For Safety Of Women

Siddhi Dharmadhikari

Mumbai, 26th January 2022: On the occasion of 72rd Republic Day, 91 dedicated Nirbhaya squads for the safety of women were launched by Mumbai Police. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the Mumbai Police has taken a very important step for the safety of women through the Nirbhaya squad and other initiatives to ensure that incidents of violence against women do not happen

He was speaking at the inauguration of Nirbhaya squads today where various other activities were celebrated in the presence of dignitaries. Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Council Dr Neelam Gorhe, Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, Mumbai City District Guardian Minister Aslam Sheikh, Mumbai Suburban District Guardian Minister Aditya Thackeray, Minister for Women and Child Development Yashomati Thakur, Minister of State (Home) Satej Patil (via video conferencing), Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, State Women’s Commission Chairperson Rupali Chakankar, MP Supriya Sule, MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, MP Arvind Sawant, Additional Chief Secretary of the department Manukumar Srivastava, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagarale along with other senior officers and staff of the police force were present.

“Today, women are working competently in every field, it is necessary to provide security to the common woman in the society. An incident happens, there is a commotion for a while but then after a while, everything cools down, the issue of women’s safety remains in the discussion only for that day. That should not be the case”, CM further added.

The Chief Minister also said that the evil tendencies towards atrocities against women should be eradicated.

Speaking about the Sakinaka rape and murder case, Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said that police response time here was only 10 minutes and the charge sheet was filed in just 18 days.

The Home Minister also pointed out that if the woman who came to the police station with a complaint was heard, the courage of the perpetrator would not be increased, major incidents would not take place and stress on the police would be reduced.

In his introductory speech, Mumbai Police Commissioner Nagarale said that the priority of the Brihanmumbai Police Force is to prevent violence against women at every stage of life from infancy to old age, to intervene and protect them if any atrocities take place, to investigate crimes quickly and to pursue court cases.

He stated that “Nirbhaya squads will work to stop atrocities against women, protect women and such squads are being set up in 91 police stations in Mumbai. Nirbhaya Facebook, Nirbhaya booklet has been published today for awareness”.

“After dialing helpline number 103, the Nirbhaya squad will provide the help”, he explained further.

Neerja Birla was felicitated for her contribution in setting up five Nirbhaya counseling centers at the regional level for counseling of victim women.

Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police, Mumbai City said, “It is natural to feel safe in the presence of the police but the main objective of the Nirbhaya squad is to create security in the absence of the police”.

The Nirbhaya Squad has been provided with 100 iPhones by Reliance Foundation with three years of data facility for communication through social media. Along with this, for women to get immediate police help, they have also placed hidden cameras.

Film director Rohit Shetty took the initiative to create a fearless theme and anthem featuring the voice of actor Amitabh Bachchan for the Nirbhaya project for awareness. Shetty also donated Rs 50 lakh for Nirbhaya squad.

Nirbhaya Geet in Marathi has been composed by a squad of Rahul Raikar and Jayesh Apte of Ravi Motion Picture, Nashik. “Praveen Talan and Sanchika Pandey took the initiative to create a calendar for public awareness”, JT CP further informed.

“Tata Capital team constructed rest houses for women police personnel at Nagpada and Byculla police stations. Thanks to those who have contributed to making the Guide book for women’s Nirbhaya logo, as well as a separate Nirbhaya Facebook page of each police station”, he added.