Ghaziabad has seen a reduction of around 23% in crimes against women in the last year since the pink booths were set up in the city, shows the latest report of the central government’s Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS).
As per the data, the total number of crimes committed against women reported between September 2022 and August 2023 was 2,666. This was reduced to 2,044 after the pink booths were set up. A decline of around 24% was reported in the rape cases with the number of cases reducing from 265 in the previous year to 200. “The reason is that the police acted at the initial stage,” said Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra.
At 36%, the incidents of dowry deaths dropped from 58 in the previous year to 37. The number of cases of domestic violence reduced from 917 to 644 (29.7%). With an aim to provide a safe redressal mechanism to women round-the-clock instead of requiring them to visit police stations, 20 pink booths were set up in the city last year on September 3. These also act as family dispute resolution centre.
“Any crime can be tackled if the cognisance is taken at the initial level. Ghaziabad Police have started regular patrolling in areas where the footfall of the women is high, mainly near schools and colleges,” said Mishra. The pink booths besides tackling crimes committed against women like kidnapping, rape, and dowry deaths have also been giving counselling services.
“The quality of counselling has also gone up. Earlier, in only 18% of cases, we were able to save families but now post the installation of pink booths, not only has the quality of the counselling gone up but we have been able to save 71% of families from breaking apart,” said Mishra.
