Pink Police another eyewash; women helplines of no use in Kerala

Kerala Police rolled out the Pink Beat, a special patrolling team of women cops, to ensure women's safety in August last year with much fanfare.

The abduction of a renowned South Indian actress in Kochi on Friday night has once again put the spotlight on the much-hyped projects implemented by the government and police in the name of ensuring women's safety. All these projects, including the Pink Police, are very much working in spending public money but hardly serve its purpose.

Kerala Police rolled out the Pink Beat, a special patrolling team of women cops, to ensure women's safety in August last year with much fanfare. The special patrol vehicles, fitted with GPS tracking devices and cameras that beam the visuals live to control room, are supposed to extend assistance to women, children and senior citizens.   

Asianet News dialled 1515, the emergency helpline number of the Pink Police from Kochi on Sunday morning, just a day after a renowned actress was abducted and abused by gangsters near Kochi International Airport. But the phone call was picked up at Thiruvananthapuram. "The call must have redirected to Thiruvananthapuram as the Kochi line is busy," the woman cop at the other end of the line explained. We tried again after a while and this time the Pink Beat control centre at Thiruvananthapuram was blamed it on initial technical hiccups and hoped things would be on track soon. Besides, the Pink Beat service won't be available after 8pm. 

"We dialled Pink Police when we met with a problem here. But nobody responded," said Midhila, a student who was in the busy tourist spot of Fort Kochi for a picnic. 

What about the Women's Helpline of Kerala Police? 
You always get a recorded message in response: "The person you are calling is not answering, please call again later!"

And don't expect the Railway Police's Women's helpline to pick up the call.

Now you understand why Bhagyalakshmi, renowned dubbing artist and activist, urged women to be rather armed and ready to fight back, than wait for the law and law enforcing mechanism to come to rescue.