CHANDIGARH: Rattled by a rush of rapes in the state, the Punjab Police have now scrambled to form a batch of specialized investigation teams to deal with sexual assaults on women.
A first-of-its-kind team in the country, sexual assault response teams (SART) will comprise women in combat wing and men in the administrative roles.
The job of the team will be to coordinate the response of executive magistrates, prosecutors, doctors, victims and the accused.
The team will also hold sessions with past rape victims and chronicle, compare and analyse the embarrassment and stigma they face as different to those of victims of robbery, theft and so on.
The decision to start SART was taken at a meeting on December 28 on law and order between state director general of police Sumedh Saini and additional director general of police (law and security) Dinkar Gupta, just two days after the Patiala gang rape.
Harassed by policemen and constantly threatened by her rapists, a 17-year-old had ended her life on December 26 in a village near Patiala, over one-and-a-half months after she was abducted and gang raped on Diwali last year.
Following that, a shocking 21 cases of rape were reported from various quarters of Punjab in the last week alone.
Widespread anger and furious protests were seen on the streets of Punjab.
The government had come under a scathing attack, forcing a defensive Saini to hold a conference and announce sacking of two personnel, including an ASI-rank officer, who was later booked for abetment to suicide.
There were confirmed reports that deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, rushed back to Chandigarh, cutting short his vacation abroad.
New cops' team to handle sexual assaults in Punjab
This article
New cops' team to handle sexual assaults in Punjab
can be opened in url
http://newsdogbrier.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-cops-team-to-handle-sexual-assaults.html
New cops' team to handle sexual assaults in Punjab
