Domestic abuse dominates list of cases in Women’s Police Station Pulwama

PULWAMA — On a chilly day in December in the midst of Chilla-i-Kalan, a 40-day period of harsh winter in Kashmir, a couple is arguing in front of the Station House Officer (SHO) in the newly-established Women’s Police Station in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The duo is given a chance to put forth their arguments and then the SHO begins to counsel them.

The scene is an everyday affair now in the police station as the cases related to women are now dealt with by the women cops posted in the facility. Almost every day, women facing domestic abuse visit the police station with their complaints and seek redressal.

Parveena Akhter, who is posted as the SHO of the station, says that since the police station started its operation on November 15, 2022, more than 15 cases were registered. “We have so far registered 17 cases among which 14 cases stand resolved amicably as most of these cases were related to domestic abuse,” the SHO told The Kashmir Pulse.

Pertinently, the police station was formally inaugurated by the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Dilbagh Singh on December 21.

Stating that cases of domestic violence are on the rise, the SHO added that women mostly come to report the abuse they suffer at the hands of their partners.

Asked if there was any fake case filed by any woman in the last 40 days of functioning of the station, the SHO candidly revealed that one fake case was filed by a lady but upon investigating the same, her charges were found to be baseless.

Concerning the follow-up of the ‘resolved cases’, the police officer said that when a case is resolved, which takes a maximum of three appearances of the complainant and the accused, a proper monitoring mechanism is in place there to keep a check on the accused. “Helpline numbers are shared with the victims so that they can receive timely help if the abuse against them doesn’t stop,” she added.

Ms. Parveena said that the police station should not be identified for a particular gender only but both women and men can approach the station if they have a genuine complaint. She went on to state, “If a male person has a complaint against a female person, he can also visit the police station. We try our best to resolve the cases amicably as dispute settlement is our prime domain at the moment.”