Hyderabad: Four years after the inception of the She Teams in Telangana, there is a notable change in the behaviour of men towards women in public places. While the number of boys (minors) indulging in offensive behaviour has decreased, the number of cases of young adults and men in their mid-30s misbehaving with women has increased, according to police records.
She Teams became operational on October 24, 2014. They were introduced into the districts by April 2015.
Each team had at least five police personnel that included women, and was supervised by an officer of the rank of Additional superintendent of police.
The teams work in two ways one is catching the offenders red-handed, and the other is acting on the complaints received through various modes.
In 2018, 8,578 complaints were received by She Teams from across the state. FIRs were registered on 771 complaints, and 1,351 petty cases were booked.
As many as 3,077 persons were warned and let off, and 3,379 persons were counselled by psychologists.
In the last three years, about 1,655 FIRs have been registered, 320 under the Nirbhaya Act, and under Section 104 of the PoCSO Act.
In all the cases, the accused persons were arrested. Apart from this, about 10,644 persons were counselled, said Inspector General (Law & Order and Women’s Safety) Swati Lakra.
A gradual reduction has been observed in minor delinquency due to awareness campaigns and counselling sessions.
The percentage of minors misbehaving with women in the twin cities has dropped from 26 per cent in 2014-15 to 12 per cent in 2018.
The number of minors caught in 2018 was less than 12 per cent, the number of young adults (19 to 24 years) caught was 38.06 per cent and men was 36.02 per cent.
The men aged between 36 and 50 years who were arrested was about 13 per cent, and above 50 years of age it was 0.02 per cent, she said.
“Providing various platforms for victims and maintaining their privacy has created a sense of confidence among women. Free and fair registration of cases is being done. As a result, there is a drastic reduction of harassment and crime against women and also deterrence on the part of the people who harass women. The teams have so far conducted 7,354 awareness programmes in which over 40.12 lakh people have participated,” said the IG.
