More women personnel in Delhi police now

New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) Delhi Police has increased the number of women police personnel following the Dec 16, 2012, gang rape of a young woman in the national capital, Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi said here Saturday.

"There was an extreme shortage of women police officers in Delhi Police. After the Dec 16 gang rape case the necessity of inducting more and more women personnel was felt.

"So, Delhi Police have inducted over 2,000 women personnel in its various ranks," Bassi said while addressing an 'interactive session with the Delhi Police on women safety'.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) and FICCI Ladies Organisation(FLO) organised the event.

"Since the Dec 16 gang rape case, out of the total 1,044 vacancies for male constables, 522 were converted for the induction of female personnel.

"A total of 306 vacancies have been created in the rank of sub-inspectors for women and over 1,078 vacancies will soon be created by the concerned ministry for the induction of female constables," Bassi said.

"Police has been doing a good job by registering the cases of crime against women. There has been a paradigm shift in the number of registered cases of crimes against women.

"This has been possible because now the female fraternity is more aware and concerned of the legal advantage of registering the complaints, which was absolutely less decades ago," he said.

According to the statistics of Delhi Police, the number of registered cases of crimes against women in 2014 increased to 71,523 from 33,797 in 2013 and 24,945 in 2012.

Bassi said there was a need for a better understanding between police personnel and the common citizens to tackle crimes against women.

"There is a lack of understanding between police and people about the ground reality. Only when there will be a better understanding between people and police personnel, crimes against women can be brought down completely," said Bassi.

Out of the total strength of Delhi police, which currently is 84,536, a total of 4,848 personnel are women.

Bassi said Delhi police has increased the number of women police personnel in various teams handling crimes against women.

"There has been an increase in the number of women police constables in the police control room. Women police officers have been inducted in teams to prevent handicapped women from becoming victims of crime," Bassi said.

"Delhi police also started its security audits of all cab services and paying guest accommodation provided to girls in the national capital", he added.

Bassi also emphasised on sensitising the relatives of girls, who many a time become victims of crimes by them.

The highest number of cases registered in recent times relate to dowry harassment and rape by the girls's own family members, he said.

According to statistics, Delhi has witnessed an increase in the number of rape cases. From 572 rape cases in 2011, the number has has gone up to 984 in 2014.