COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday inaugurated an All-women police station (AWPS) in Mettupalayam through video conference from Chennai. This is the fourth AWPS in Coimbatore district and would investigate cases from within a radius of about 40 km.
Hitherto, complaints related to crime against women and children in Periyanaickenpalayam and Mettupalayam police subdivisions were investigated by the Thudiyalur All Women Police Station. Last year, Thudiyalur AWPS handled about 700 petitions and 18 cases related to women and children, sources said.
"A total of 1200 petitions was investigated by Thudiyalur AWPS between June 2021 and June 2022. Of these, 700 petitions (58 per cent) were registered and out of 41 cases, 18 cases (44 per cent) were related to the Mettupalayam subdivision. This subdivision has a population of about 5, 77,613. As the Thudiyalur AWPS station is about 40 km from Mettupalayam and Sirumugai areas, the public especially women have to come to complain remotely. From now on, people can lodge their complaints at Mettupalayam AWPS," said a police officer.
IG (West zone) R Sudhakar, DIG (Coimbatore Range) MS Muthusamy, Coimabtore (Rural) SP V Badri Narayanan and many others were present during the inauguration. In three months between March and May, district police registered 103 cases related to the crimes against children and woman, in which 32 cases were booked in May, according to a press release.