There is at least one woman member in each of Bengaluru’s high-visibility police patrol teams and they stand out in their Pink Hoysala vehicles.

A patrol unit has two or three police personnel, and the vehicles are a familiar sight in areas with a high concentration of women, such as colleges and schools, paying guest complexes and even temples.

The Pink Hoysalas are seen as not merely helping women in the city, but empowering female police personnel too. These staffers now conduct inquiries, question suspects and carry out investigations – tasks normally performed only by male personnel.

So far, the 51 Pink Hoysalas that were added to the 221 regular Hoysala patrols last month to exclusively cater to problems faced by women and children have received 39 distress calls.

These are received through the ‘Suraksha app’ (users can press the power button five times to seek help, sending a signal to the command centre that then directs the nearest Pink Hoysalas as well as the control room number (100).

“The calls include complaints of sexual harassment in public places. This is why we keep these patrols near all-girls colleges and schools, especially at closing time,” said a senior police officer.

Arrest on the move

‘Pink Hoysala 272’ has won attention for arresting a man who was misbehaving with a 29-year-old software engineer, from the bus on which the incident occurred in Whitefield late at night.

In another case, a Pink Hoysala rescue a woman in Basavanagudi who was initially thought to have been attacked with acid.

It was found that the substance was adhesive gum. Based on feedback, the system may be expanded.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by K.C.Deepika / Bengaluru – May 26th, 2017