KARUR: The road to justice for women in Aravakurichi is long, 40km to be precise. One of the densely populated areas in the district, Aravakurichi panchayat union comprises 2 town panchayats - Aravakurichi, Pallapatti and 20 village panchayats. It has population of 1.5 lakh of which 50 per cent are women and 9 per cent is children. But there is no All Women Police Station (AWPS), and this forces women to endure abuse and harassment in silence. The nearest AWPS is in Karur which is 40km away.
"Because there is no AWPS in Aravakurichi union, women and children suffer in silence, unable to lodge a police complaint against the aggressor," said Uma Shankari, social activist.
"Even if some of them boldly step out to register a complaint, they have to travel for more than 40 - 50 kms to Karur. Most of the time these women, unable to travel alone, wait for someone to accompany them to the AWPS. Due to this, many of them are unable to get timely justice. The government must immediately establish an AWPS in Aravakurichi" she concluded.
Superintendent of Police P Pakalavan ruled out the possibility of opening an AWPS in Aravakurichi for now. “There is no criteria for establishing an AWPS in a particular locality. In general, women can approach any police station to register a complaint. Only sensitive cases including marital issues, POCSO cases and other cases related to sexual harassment are investigated in AWPS. Women in Aravakurichi can approcach the local police station instead of travelling to the Karur AWPS. They will transfer it to the AWPS of needed. As and when the need arises, AWPS would be established in Aravakurichi, " he explained.