Patna: Facing abuse? Drop complaints in ‘DGP box’

PATNA: Girls need not visit a police station any more to lodge complaints of sexual harassment. ‘DGP complaint boxes’ have been installed at their respective colleges and academic institutions in the state capital. The girls just have to drop their written complaints and wait for the action.
‘DGP complaint boxes’ have been installed in all the six women’s colleges in the city, including Patna Women’s College, Magadh Mahila College and JD Women’s College, on the instruction of DGP Gupteshwar Pandey.
City SP (central) Prantosh Kumar Das said on Tuesday, “I personally visited the places where the complaint boxes were installed today. I will monitor and ensure that action is taken against the offenders at the earliest.”
Das said a police team comprising the station house officer (SHO) of the women’s police station in the city and that of the respective police station would visit the academic institutions once in a week to collect the complaints and act accordingly.
Interestingly, the SHOs have to send WhatsApp messages and the pictures of cops saluting the complaint boxes before opening them. “This is a symbolic honour to the state police chief for his novel initiative to redress the girls’ grievances,” Das said, adding that more boxes would be installed in the days to come.
DGP Pandey had received complaints from girls during an interactive programme held in the city in February this year. The official function was held to get feedback from the girls on policing in Patna to mark the concluding ceremony of the police week.
According to the DGP’s directive, the police officers will visit the schools and colleges to collect written complaints about their harassment outside the campus. In addition, the girls will be provided mobile numbers of at least 10 police officers who they can interact with even during night without hesitation.
A senior IPS officer posted at the police headquarters said, “If the initiative is implemented in toto, it will change people’s perception about the police. Such an initiative to redress the grievances of the fair sex has been taken for the first time.”
The programme has been launched in Patna on an experimental basis. “If there is good response, we will implement the same in schools and colleges across the state,” the police officer said, requesting anonymity.