Delhi police to have crime victim counsellors from North Eastern states

Delhi Police will soon have women from the North-Eastern states as "Crime Victim counsellors", following spurt in cases of crime against people from these regions living in the national capital.

"Delhi Police have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Commission for Women (NCW) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, on Wednesday for the purpose," said a senior police official, adding that initially 23 counsellors will be appointed through a merit-based selection process.

NCW is the body which funds the bench of counsellors for Delhi Police for women and children who are victims of sexual offences and TISS will be heading the recruitment process on behalf of Delhi Police, he said.
TISS has already started the selection process and candidates can send applications till January 7.

While one volunteer is required for full-time work at the Special Police Unit for Women & Children (SPUWAC) in south Delhi's Nanakpura, 22 (in teams of two volunteers each) are required for the Children and Women welfare cells proposed to be expanded to all 11 police districts early next year, the official said.

The candidate is required to be a post-graduate in social work and 2 years' work experience in social development sector. Women from North-Eastern region who live or have lived in Delhi-NCR shall be given preference.

"Nothing can be more reassuring for north-east women, who are victims of crime in the national capital, to be counselled by fellow north-east sisters," the official added.

In February 2014, a committee headed by retired bureaucrat MP Bezbaruah was set up, which submitted a report in connection with incidents of crime against people from the region in different cities and recommended a list of measures to tackle the problem.

The committee, in its report submitted in July, cited a 2009-10 study according to which 86% of people from the north eastern states living in metros have faced racial discrimination. Over two lakh people from north-east live in the national capital.

According to police records, cases of molestation of women from the north-east in the national capital went up by 177% between 2011 and 2013. While one northeastern woman was reported to have been raped in 2011, seventeen such cases were reported in 2013.