CHENNAI: From forming two new commissionerates to taking immediate action against people accused of sexually abusing students, the DMK government has performed well in law and order matters in the first year of its rule.
The two additional police commissionerates in Avadi and Tambaram were announced by the State government in September 2021. The initiative was welcomed by the Chennai police as the Greater Chennai police jurisdiction was trifurcated. For a department that was drowning in workload and seeing an increase in cybercrimes, the new commissionerates helped in focused management.
On July 23, the Chennai city police and Social Welfare department launched a counselling centre for women and children under the Safe City Projects at the Office of the Commissioner of Police in Vepery. The counselling centre, named Nirbhaya Specialised Counselling and Support Centre for Women, was established with complete infrastructure and counsellors. Until March 2022, more than 200 women and children were helped with several issues varying from domestic violence to overcoming trauma.
Besides, the Tamil Nadu police received over 400 new patrol vehicles across the State. The vehicles were distributed to newly formed districts and the two new police commissionerates. In a move to equip the forensic department which works closely with the police in solving crimes, Tamil Nadu, on November 20, became the first state in the country to get its own ‘forensic DNA profile search tool’, developed by the State Forensic Sciences Department.
Chief Minister MK Stalin launched the facility and handed it over to the State police chief. The tool will come in handy for gathering profiles of victims of human trafficking; identifying missing children; tracking criminals from other States, unidentified bodies, profiles of history-sheeters, and people who die in natural disasters.
When the DMK came to power, one of the challenges in law and order they were faced with was the series of sexual abuse allegations against teachers of various institutions. From June 2021, the State witnessed a cascading effect where students and alumni of several institutions began calling out their teachers who had sexually abused them in the past.
The #MeToo movement, which started in the city with an alumnus of PSBB school exposing a commerce teacher, Rajagopalan, soon spread to the entire State. The effect was so much so that institutions suspended the staff concerned hours after allegations started trending on social media. In the next few months after the first complaint, a martial arts trainer, an athletic coach, a spiritual guru and several teachers from different schools were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.