VIJAYAWADA: Buoyed by the response to direct and active intervention of Mahila Rakshak teams which are dealing with eve-teasers here, the city police took another initiative - Mahila Mithra, to provide psychological support to the victims as well as help the offenders realise their mistake through counselling.
The city police have joined hands with social activist and Vasavya Mahila Mandali founder Chennupati Vidya, for the novel initiative here on Thursday.
Of late, crimes against women have increased, in Vijayawada, which is ranked eighth among the unsafe cities in India as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
During 2016, around 441 cases of women harassment along with 70 rape cases were registered in Vijayawada city. Further, 10 women committed suicide due to dowry harassment and five others were murdered for dowry. Around 26 women were victims in kidnapping and abduction cases.
Due to crimes against them, majority of the women in such cases are in dire need of psychological support including counselling. The Mahila Mithra counsellors will provide necessary support to the victims. “We will be counselling the first-time offenders as well on case-to-case basis. But if we nab habitual offenders, they will be arrested under the Nirbhaya Act,” declared Mahila Rakshak teams in-charge ACP K Sravani.