Assam’s Veerangana to fight crime against women

Guwahati, Nov 10 (IANS) Four months after a teenage girl was molested in the city July 9, the Assam Police have launched a special all-women’s force to tackle crime against women in the state.

The force, christened Veerangana (women warriors), will be deployed in Assam’s principal city immediately and across the state in a phased manner.

Director General of Assam Police J.N. Choudhury, who took the salute of the first company of the force here Friday evening, said it would patrol the city, check crimes against women and act as decoys to thwart incidents against women.

On July 9, some youth molested and stripped a teenage girl after as she came out with her fiends from a restaurant-cum-bar in the busy G.S. Road in Guwahati. The incident created a country-wide furore after the molestation’s video clip was circulated and the visuals went on the Internet.

After the incident, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had said that the state government would raise a special force to tackle the crime against women.

Choudhury said that the 100 personnel of the Veerangana were trained in martial arts and arms besides driving motorcycle and cars.

“All the 100 members of the company have undergone rigorous training under the supervision of expert commando trainers at the Dergaon Police Training College in Assam for three months,” Choudhury said.

He added that out of the 100, 16 were underwent advanced commando training from the Tamil Nadu Police in Chennai for 15 days.

“We have undergone rigorous training for three months. We have also been trained to restrain any kind of assault. We are told that out primary responsibility would be to keep strict vigil on crime against women,” said Rashmi Kakati (name changed), a cadre of the Veerangana.

The new force has raised great expectations as Guwahati has registered a sharp rise in crime against women recently.

The force is also likely to boost the police force in the city, which has few women personnel.

IANS 2012-11-10 16:30:05