KAKINADA: East Godavari district police have launched a unique initiative — Women Drop at Home. As part of the initiative, the police assist women, who reach Kakinada city late in the night, to reach home safely.
V Yaswanthi, a resident of Kakinada town, came from Visakhapatnam in a RTC bus late Friday night. The bus was supposed to reach in the evening but broke down mid-way.
After repairs, the bus reached the district headquarters late night. Yaswanthi found herself in a fix as she could not dare to hire an auto-rickshaw. Instead, she called the police for assistance.
At 1.49 am, she called “Women Drop at Home’’ service. The call was received by the control room and immediately assigned to the district night monitoring officer CCS DSP S Rambabu.
The officer, in turn, alerted Kakinada division night rounds officer and II Town inspector P Eswarudu.
Within minutes, the officers along with a woman head constable reached the spot to provide Yaswanthi a safe transport to her home.
“I was in a fix and there was nowhere I could go to seek help as it was midnight. By calling for police assistance, I was able to reach home safely,’’ she said.
The service was mooted by SP M Ravindranath Babu.
In another instance, on December 10 at 11.48 pm, B Lalitha of Chitrada village in Pithapuram town, came from Gudivada by passenger train to Kakinada.
Lalitha tried to get a transport facility from the Railway station to Chitrada, but in vain. She reached RTC Bus Stand and informed her daughter the same.
“My daughter called the police, and soon night duty ASI Sharif and a woman constable reached the bus stand and dropped me off at Chitrada,’’ she said.
The initiative is receiving accolades from women’s organisations. ‘Sramika Mahila’ organisation appreciated the police service.
“It will prevent many instances of harassment. Disha SoS application gives partial protection to women but ‘Drop at Home’ removes all fears of a woman all by herself,’’ organisation leader Baby Rani said.