Delhi to set up ‘Pink Force’ after 4 sexual attacks on minors in 10 days

Dubai A six-year-old girl. A teenager who had stepped out to buy stationery. A 16-year-old allegedly gang-raped and murdered. And, most recently, a 17-year-old allegedly attacked in a park.

Four cases involving minor girls have been reported across Delhi in about 10 days, according to NDTV, again putting the safety of women and children in the capital under scrutiny.

Now the capital is planning a dedicated “Pink Force” of trained women police officers to patrol schools, colleges, metro stations and other locations considered vulnerable.

Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Tuesday asked Delhi Police to draw up the force on the lines of a similar unit operated by Goa Police, with women personnel deployed at identified hotspots, particularly during vulnerable hours.

The proposal comes as police deal with a disturbing succession of cases involving children and teenagers across different parts of the capital.

The latest was reported on Monday, when a 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three men at Astha Kunj Park near Kalkaji Mandir.

Police said the men allegedly posed as policemen before separating the girl from her male friend. One suspect was later caught following an exchange of fire with police in which he suffered a bullet injury to his leg.

On the same day, a six-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in central Delhi’s Kishanganj. Residents caught the accused and handed him over to police.

Days earlier, on September 16, a minor girl was allegedly sexually assaulted inside a shop in Sadar Bazar after leaving home to buy stationery. The accused was arrested and sent to judicial custody.

Earlier this month, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Swaroop Nagar. A 19-year-old was arrested and three minors were detained.

WHAT THE ‘PINK FORCE’ WILL DO

• Deploy trained women police personnel

• Patrol schools, colleges and metro stations

• Focus on identified vulnerable locations and hours

• Maintain a visible police presence at hotspots

• Respond to incidents involving women and children

• Work alongside existing women-safety patrols

Women officers on the streets

Against this backdrop, the proposed Pink Force is intended to make women police officers more visible in places where girls and women routinely travel, study and gather.

Trained women personnel would patrol around schools, colleges, metro stations and other identified hotspots, with particular attention to hours considered vulnerable.

Goa Police’s Pink Force, which patrols public spaces and responds to incidents involving women and children, has been cited as the model.

Women-only patrols are not entirely new to Delhi. Female officers have previously been deployed on scooters and beat patrols around educational institutions, markets, metro stations and other busy areas.

The difference would be bringing those efforts under a dedicated Pink Force structure.

Police have also been asked to continue ‘Operation Shishtachar’, under which personnel are deployed in public spaces to act against harassment of women.

Beyond patrolling

The response will extend into schools.

Every police district will nominate a nodal officer and prepare a quarterly calendar of sessions for students covering the POCSO Act and child safety, cybercrime, substance abuse and road safety.

Police stations and beat officers have also been directed to increase foot and motorcycle patrols in crime-prone and high-footfall areas, particularly around schools, colleges, markets and transport hubs.

Complaints made through Delhi Police’s Jan Sunwai programme will meanwhile be digitally tracked, with grievances acknowledged and action taken within a defined timeline.

Police said this month that more than 1,300 Jan Sunwai sessions had been conducted since June and around 10,000 complaints resolved.

Other directions cover cybercrime, drug trafficking and traffic management, while police personnel have been promised measures to address promotions and workplace grievances.

But it is the proposed Pink Force that will be watched most closely following the recent cases involving girls.

For now, it remains on the drawing board. Its strength, launch date, district-wise deployment and patrol timings have yet to be announced.

What has already been decided is where its officers are expected to be most visible: Outside schools and colleges, around metro stations and on the streets and public spaces where women and girls may feel most vulnerable.