The rape and murder of Jisha in Perumbavoor nearly two weeks ago triggered massive protests in the state, with her being termed ‘Kerala’s Nirbhaya’.
As the debate over the safety of women in the state seems to have re-emerged, ADGP (State Crime Records Bureau) R Sreelekha has come down heavily on the government over a project that did not make much headway after months in limbo.
Sreelekha in her blog post on May 4 criticized the Kerala government for the slow death of ‘Nirbhaya Keralam, Surakshitha Keralam’, a project for the safety of women that was kick-started in 2014 after Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala assumed office.
Sreelekha apologized to Jisha and said that if the project had been alive, Jisha would have been alive too.
She wrote that except for the inauguration ceremony which was held with much pomp and style in Ernakulam, the project was not given due attention and had to be ‘buried alive’.
Inauguration of Nirbhaya Keralam Surakshitha Keralam/ Keralapolice.org
She alleges that lack of proper funds and delay in the appointment of a team stalled the project for months.
She explained her plan of action after being posted as the only officer in-charge of the project and wrote: “I also contacted C-DAC and requested them to make an application that can be worn by women as a bracelet, pendant on a chain, a brooch or a watch. I planned to develop these and distribute them free of cost to women who needed them. They had in-built GPRS/GPS and with the aid of google map, we could trace the location of a registered user of this gadget at the control room or police station.”
She further wrote that even three months after announcement of the project, no other officer was appointed to the team, and her office began to be flooded with cases.
“Soon, I found that no one, no man is interested in any issue relating to women in this state. Or they just didn’t care. No support nor funds were there for this project which was started with a huge celebration,” she wrote.
Sreelekha further wrote she was ‘relieved’ to have been offered a transfer as the project was not making any progress.
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