Plan afoot to prevent forced, child marriages

Desks to be set up in protection centre for girls under threat

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab police have decided to further empower the protection centre to prevent incidents of forced and child marriages.

The “Punjab Police Women Safety App” will also be upgraded to provide immediate protection to female victims in highly sensitive cases.

Special desks will be set up in the protection centre to protect girls who have been victims of child marriage or are feeling threatened.

A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the most modern and important pilot project of Punjab Police will be started from the garrison city for which a separate desk will be set up in the already established protection centre.

Whereas in the most sensitive cases, special features will be added to the Punjab Police Women Safety App to provide immediate relief and protection to the female victims of child marriage.

With the new features of the smart mobile app, the fear of being affected by forced marriage will also be reported, enabling the police to reach the spot immediately on the complaint received.

In order to better handle the sensitive matter, it will be kept between the protection centre and the girl victim and as soon as the matter progresses to a police case at the level of inquiry, the concerned police station will be taken on board for legal action.

The police officer said that after reporting the matter, an initial investigation will be conducted by a female police officer, while the social welfare department and other institutions will also be taken on board to ensure the protection of the affected girls so that they can be assisted in all the stages of justice.

The police officer said that two cases of child marriage had been reported in Rawalpindi in the last three years following which legal action was taken.

Top police officers believe that if the reporting of this issue is made easy with the use of modern technology, such incidents can be tackled promptly.

The police officer said that the added feature against cases of child marriage will increase the effectiveness of police protection centres and the Punjab Police Women Safety App.

“If the experiment remains successful, the project will be spread throughout Punjab in the next six months so that such incidents can be prevented in South Punjab and other developed districts as well and such girls can be protected,” he said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2023.