Since it was established some 17 years ago, the Women Police Station Rawalpindi has been deprived of basic facilities. Set up in a two room’s house in 1994 by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto with the vision to provide a platform where women can easily register their complaints has been functioning without the basic necessities such as gas and water and required equipment.
A look at the performance of this police station to analyse its utility reveals that there is more that this facility is lacking.
The police station is working without a senior officer and an inspector is performing the duty of SHO. Two sub-inspectors, four ASIs (who are currently not on duty), 76 constables are posted in the police station which has just one police van.
When it was established, the government had said that the police station will be provided necessary equipment and other basic facilities but the claim could not be realised.
Although, several promises were being made from higher authority to provide the police station with a water facility but the police station still relies on water tankers to get any sort of water.
Moreover, no inspector is being appointed in the police station. To add to that, women police officials are being appointed in other police stations.
An official said that the station is not being allowed to work independently which is also affecting its performance.
In the first years of its establishment more than 60 cases were registered here, but with the end of PPP government, the police station lost its credibility and number of cases started reducing, he added.
Sometimes we are called into work when other police stations seek our help in arresting accused women, said an official of the police station, lamenting the decline in the role female police officers have to play.
A total of 333 cases have been registered in the Women Police Station during the last 17 years and most of these cases are family disputes and burglaries. There is a belief that this police station cannot work on its own, which is the main reason why it has lost its credibility, another official, speaking on anonymity.
Most of the cases are usually solved in initial stages, which is the main reason for lesser registered cases, she said.
Whenever, we are asked to conduct a raid, we start begging for vehicles and equipment, she added. After we complained about the issue, the higher authority asked us to get vehicles from the Civil Lines Police Station, she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2012.
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