KRISHNAGIRI: In an effort to prevent child marriages and crimes against women and children, volunteer teams have been formed in Denkanikottai police sub-division.
Denkanikottai Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) K Kiruthikaa, who has come up with the initiative, said, "After I joined the duty in Denkanikottai sub-division, I came to know about the high prevalence of child marriages and elopement cases involving children mostly below the age of 16 in the region. To prevent them, we planned to rope in informers from each mother village in the sub-division."
She said there were 90 mother villages and 614 hamlets under seven police limits -- Rayakottai, Thalli, Kelamangalam, Uddanapalli, Anchetti, Denkanikottai and Denkanikottai All Women Police -- of Denkanikottai police sub-division. "Henceforth, it was planned to engage three informers each from 90 mother villages. They will communicate with us about the issues."
Two types of volunteer teams have been created. One is 'Sakthi' which has women informers, without any age limit. They will inform about crimes against women and children, particularly the details of child marriages prior to its happening from their region. And the second one is 'Veera' comprising male volunteers in the age group of 18- 25. They will inform the police about the elopement of underage girls. The volunteer programme was started in September.
According to police, so far, 126 volunteers have been identified from 90 mother villages. Most of them are women and soon the number will reach 270. These volunteers will inform the issues directly to the DSP, child welfare police or special teams. Cases of child marriage will be informed to childline, district social welfare department, child welfare committee and district child protection officer.
The DSP further said people can report crimes against women and children to helpline numbers 181 and 1098 and to local police stations. "Apart from this initiative, we have created nine temporary checkpoints to prevent illegal transportation of liquor and other wildlife crimes near tribal regions like Jawlagiri, Natrampalayam, Gummlapuram, Thagatti, Kundukottai and other areas," she added.