Post shameful Dec 16 gangrape, women’s safety a priority for Vasant Vihar police

In 2012, the Vasant Vihar Police Station came into news after the December 16 gang-rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in a moving bus, which led to massive protests across the nation. 

A year later, steps were taken up to ensure that crimes against women were addressed promptly in areas under the jurisdiction of the South Delhi police station. 

To ensure this, the Vasant Vihar police undertook various measures such as deploying more number of women police personnel and posting adequate number of cops from the Northeast to address the grievances of people, mostly from the Northeast, living in Munirka Village.

Set up in 1978, the Vasant Vihar Police station is spread across 7.62 square kilometres. With the maximum number of cases related to crime against women, the police station amplified the number of female Sub-Inspectors (SI) from two in 2015 to four in 2016.  Besides, there are two women Head Constables and 12 women constables.  

Moreover, apart from crimes against women, cases of snatching, mobile theft and cheating are also reported at the police station.

Talking about the measures undertaken at the police station, an officer said, “After 2012 gangrape, we have made sure that cases of rape, molestation and harassment are registered at the police station without any hassle and are handled promptly by women officers. Although there is no female Inspector, we have increased the strength of female Sub-Inspectors from two to four. They are mainly responsible for handling cases of crime against women.”

Areas such as Jia Sarai, Ber Sarai, Munirka Village, Katwarai Sarai, Vasant Vihar, Vasant gaon, Shankar Vihar and the area between NH-8 to Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) come under the jurisdiction of the Vasant Vihar police station. 

Talking about the other issues addressed by the police here, another officer said to put a check on crimes reported by people, belonging to the Northeast who largely live in Munirka Village, four Sub-inspectors, four head constables and one constable from the North-east states are specially deployed at the police station.

“Their lifestyle is different from locals who live in the area. Earlier, people constructed flats, then rented or sold them to students or working youths from Northeast states and owners shifted to the posh areas like Vasant Kunj. So, most people living here are students. Lifestyle differences do crop up and it causes problems like minor arguments, but to ensure that the problems faced by the Northeastern community are addressed properly, we have deployed sufficient cops from the North-East so that the complainant is at ease while explaining their problem in their mother tongue to the concerned officer,” added an officer.