Police to help special persons in lodging FIRs

New feature will allow differently-abled to use sign language to report crime

RAWALPINDI:

 The authorities have decided to add a special feature to the protection centres, established in the four districts of Rawalpindi region, for the convenience of the persons with disabilities following which the differently-abled persons will be able to lodge FIRs with the help of gestures.

Sources said a video will be recorded as the preliminary statement to prove the charges in sign language.

They said the new feature will initially be launched as a pilot project from Rawalpindi and after its success, the system will be implemented in the entire province.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior police officer, requesting not to be named, stated that the protection centres were established in 2021 with the main objective of providing legal protection to the trans-persons.

“The mistreatment incidents with the trans-persons at the police station level completely disappeared with the establishment of these protection centres,” he said.

Punjab IGP Dr Usman Anwar, who was appointed in the caretaker setup, had asked Rawalpindi RPO Syed Khurram Ali to add modern features for special persons in the protection centres, at which the RPO placed the matter before an internationally renowned welfare organisation working on the sign language for disabled people, the police officer explained.

He said a formal agreement has been reached between the police officers and the welfare organisation for the registration of FIRs in sign language.

The police officer said: “This feature will be launched from the protection centres of Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakwal and Attock and in all protection centres trained personnel from the welfare organisation will be used as a liaison between the police and the special persons as they are capable of decoding sign language for people with any disability.” “The RPO has issued instructions to the commanding officers of all districts to add one seat to the protection centres established in their respective districts,” he said and added that the new feature will be formally inaugurated by the Rawalpindi RPO next week.

The police officer further said that after the launch of the feature, the condition of appearing in the police stations for the differently- abled will end.

“Disabled people will be able to send video messages to special WhatsApp numbers from home or any location, using special gestures with the help of modern digital apps, after which a call will be made from the protection centres to the respective police station,” he explained.

According to whatever crime the disabled people will suffer, the investigation officers from the police station will reach the spot along with the sign language decoding experts who will formally provide the information obtained from the disabled persons to the investigating officer, he said.

The police officer said that a database of all disabled persons will be created in which important information related to their disabilities will be recorded which will help in the monitoring process.

The provision of legal assistance with the help of this feature will be provided to disabled persons without any discrimination, he said and added that monitoring of all FIRs or reports filed with the help of sign language will be done by senior police officers themselves.

“Before the launch of this feature, the people with disabilities were facing severe difficulties in becoming complainants,” he said.