Domestic violence still tops crimes against women in Ggn

Domestic violence and exploitation of women for not giving dowry is still a reality in a city that has the third highest per- capita- income in the country. While the city has seen a sharp increase in sexual crimes that involve rapes and molestation, domestic violence still tops in the list of crimes against women.

In the last six months, there have been more than 170 incidents of domestic violence that have been registered at the women police station in Sector-51 that is followed by other major crimes like molestation and rapes.

Worryingly, not only is this trend widespread in rural parts of the city but is also prevalent in urban parts and posh localities.

Recently, the Gurugram police booked a 25-year–old corporate executive for illegally confining his wife and physically assaulting her.

Senior police officials highlight that domestic violence and eve- teasing are the highest form of complaints that are being registered and is a bigger challenge for its personnel.

According to the police, long legal process and personal issues prevent women of lodging formal complaints.

To tackle the issue of domestic violence and eve teasing, Gurugram Police officials have donned the role of counsellors. The role of the police counsellors is to hold consultations with the couples affected by domestic violence and advise them of the steps towards happy marriage. There are twelve police officials who are employed as counsellors. Besides being counsellors, they also do their regular police duties. In a formal ceremony to celebrate the two years of women police station that how these counselling units proved to be useful in mending the ties of broken families.

"Domestic violence is still a major challenge in the city. Daily we get complaints of domestic violence across different police stations. The inability of the women to file complaints resulted in us opening the counselling units. We have counselled people who are rickshaw pullers to people who travel in Jaguars," said a senior official from Gurugram Police.

However, counselling units should not give impressions that we will be soft on the culprits," he said.