Delhi Police felicitates 200 women trained in self-defence

The Delhi Police on the occasion of International Women's Day on Wednesday felicitated 200 women who were trained in the art of self-defence.

These women were trained with the help of World Vision India (WVI), a non-profit organisation, in order to make the city safe for women.

According to a release issued by the WVI, a ceremony was conducted for these women at Ram Lila Maidan on completing the 15-day training successfully.

During the ceremony, Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Dumbere urged all women and girls to speak up.

"The self-defence programme was formulated keeping the best interests of women and girls in mind," the release quoted Dumbere as saying.

"Going ahead we remain committed to ensuring that all women and children in Delhi enjoy their right to a safe and empowered environment to flourish in."

Dumbere added: "We look forward to the communities' support in addressing the issue of violence and crime in the city."

Five youths from the WVI were identified as 'Police Mitras'.

"'Police Mitra' is a unique programme, wherein civil society members help report cases of abuse and violence faster," reads the release.

"Both the self-defence training and the 'Police Mitra' programme are part of citizen's participation initiatives of the Delhi Police's 'Parivartan Project' and are being implemented in tandem with WVI's Delhi 'My City Initiative', which aims to make cities safer, especially for women," it added.

WVI Programme Officer Mercy Mirabel said: "We are also using innovative ways to talk to women and children about the issue of abuse and safety and have already conducted 100 mime shows in Delhi and will soon reach out to 440 schools in the city."

The WVI cited the National Crime Record Bureau's 2015 data to stress that Delhi reported the highest crime rate, ranked eighth in crime against women, and fourth in crime against children. It also said that 2,155 cases of rape were reported in Delhi in 2016.