Harassments are a part of our professional life: Women cops

If you are a woman and have joined the force, it is not easy to be a police personnel. From the day of joining duty till the time you serve in the department, you have to face harassment. Be it sexual or mental; almost every women cop have to go through the same, say the female cops posted in Delhi Police in different ranks.

Speaking to Millennium Post, many of the female cops requesting anonymity shared the daily harassment faced by them since they joined service with Delhi Police. Apart from the mental trauma, they are often harassed sexually. The sexual harassment on duty does not comprise of rape, molestation or any kind of assault but gestures, comments, double meaning talks, unnecessary texts or calls from the seniors, which in a way are insults to the modesty of women.

“Once I was a Sub -Inspector posted at a police station (name withheld) and was on night duty. Suddenly, the SHO wanted to learn about the next day’s arrangement. He called me in his restroom that is adjacent to the SHO’s room to get the information. When I entered his restroom, he was in his boxers! I became so uncomfortable that I started fumbling. However, the SHO didn’t realise the situation,” said Hemlata (name changed). She is now an Inspector posted in one of the police stations.

It was learnt that most of them feel harassed when the SHOs call them in their restrooms. The abovementioned incident is one of those. “Many of the policemen including seniors used to scratch their private parts in front of the female cops. At times, many of them also attended nature’s call in the outdoor in their presence,” another female cop, requesting anonymity said. She is a Head Constable posted in South district.

“I am fair and slim and have always carried my uniform properly. One of the senior of my police station used to call me in his room and ask me to sit right in front of him for no reason. I was not assigned any work till that officer got transferred,” Radhika (name changed), an Assistant Sub-Inspector said.

Rekha (name changed), a Head Constable said: “Most of the time, as there is no four wheeler in the police station, the women cops (Constable or Head Constable) deployed on emergency duty are forced to go to the crime scene by riding pillion on a motorbike driven by a male officer. The application of brakes (intentionally or unintentionally) on the way are a kind of harassment.”

“Ironically, we (female cops) who protect Delhi residents and are recruited for the safety of women but we ourselves cannot raise our voices attributing to various reasons,” was the consensus among all the female cops.