Thiruvananthapuram: Pinks Patrol told to advise teens, not to play moral cop
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the police Pink Patrol dealing with more teenage lovers than teenage eve-teasers, women officers have been asked not to jump the thin boundary line and engage in moral policing. The officials claim that in the absence of Pink Patrol squads, teenage Romeos also end up in trouble as much as girls. "Last month, we got an alert that two boys were being roughed up by five middle-aged men in front of Cotton Hill School in the morning. Later, all of them were brought to Museum police station. On being interrogated, it was revealed that the boys hailing from Varkala used to come to seduce certain girls. A girl's relatives, who learnt of this, took law into their hands. Both gangs were let off as they had no complaint," said an official attached to Museum station.
As per city police commissioner G. Sparjan Kumar, the Pink Patrol primarily talks out and disperses teenagers lovers to avoid future law and order issues caused by the peculiar social value system in Kerala. "Often the Pink Patrol was labelled as moral police. So, they play advisory role now and insist on teenagers to sober down. Pink Patrol teams are just the first respondent. When complaints are given, eve -teasers and miscreants are booked at the nearest police stations or women's police station," Mr Kumar said.
As per Pink Patrol members, their modus operandi will be to make eye contact with teenage eve-teasers and suddenly shower them with questions. "We ask them the details of their parents and the place they stay. Though we may never contact the parents, this acts as a major deterrent. The guys mostly roam around entrance coaching centres and tuition centres more than schools," said a police officer. Pink Patrol teams say that grown-up eve-teasers chasing minor girls are many and are taken seriously. "There had been complaints of rackets trying to trap young girls, especially around girls' school. Some such gangs can be busted when they are noticed regularly outside the school. We have rolling cameras on our car," officials said.
