Pink police patrol turns a year old on Kottayam roads

The Pink Police Patrol has been patrolling the roads of Kottayam to ensure the safety of women and children at public spaces and it marked the first anniversary of its launch in the district on June 28. The Kottayam unit is the first in the state to begin night patrol as well. The force is always ready to help those in distress and many a times they have even saved the lives of accident victims by taking them to hospitals. Specially trained women police personnel, which operate under the supervision of district police chief, is often stationed at vantage points like bus stops, schools, colleges and other public places

The night patrol which begins at 8 pm ends at 8 next morning; this service on wheels is besides the night patrolling of the women’s cell. The pink police patrol cover areas like Thirunakkara, Kanjikuzhi, Collectrate, KSRTC Bus Station and Kodimatha. The patrol car has GPS tracking devices as well as rear and front cameras. A women police officer and two other women police personnel are in the car coloured in distinct pink colours.

Notable cases

Last week the pink patrol had noticed a young woman sitting alone at the KSRTC bus station at midnight. She was a singer from Ernakulam who had come to sing at a ‘ganamela’ in Pala. The woman had contacted the number provided by the pink police to the public and informed about her situation. The patrol immediately reached the bus station and dropped the girl at her relative’s house at Choottuveli in the town.

The Kottayam unit did a commendable job on July 10 when they took the initiative to ensure the safety of a 15-year-old girl who had reached the General Hospital alone. The girl’s mother had entrusted her to a distant relative’s house as she was working abroad. It was the hospital authorities which informed the pink police about the girl who walked into the hospital alone with severe health issues. When the relative refused to take responsibility of the girl, it was the pink police force which took the initiative to hand over the custody of the girl to the Child Line. They even made sure that the girl was accommodated safely at a convent near her school until the NGO took over the custody of the girl.

Jurisdictions

The pink police force has just two vehicles, and the force conducts night patrolling in these vehicles in the Kottayam and Pala divisions. The vehicle belonging to the Kottayam division conducts patrolling at Kumarakom, Ettumanoor, Changanasserry and Vakathanam; and the one at the Pala division cover Kanjirappally and Vaikom sub-divisions. Though the state police chief has informed that one more vehicle would be allotted to the pink police force in Kottayam, no action has been taken in this regard yet.

Bitter calls

The pink police officers say that there are people who call at their control room after 10 pm and talk in an obscene manner. Even if these culprits are caught, their reply would be this, "sorry, we called thinking this was a customer care number."

Note 1515

Your call to this toll free number would be connected to the respective sub-division and the pink police force would immediately reach the spot for your assistance.