Women officers to board DTC buses on routes notorious for eve-teasing incidents.

Delhi Police’s special unit for women will now use its personnel as bait to nab and prosecute habitual eve-teasers.

As per the plan, a martial arts-trained policewomen will enter a crowded bus on a notorious route. A police team, comprising women and men personnel in civil dress, will stay close behind in case the situation goes out of hand.

“If the policewoman is eve-teased or someone misbehaves with her, the culprit will be nabbed on the spot and handed over to the local police station with evidence. The policewoman serving as decoy will be the witness in the case,” Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Taj Hassan told The Hindu .

The need to use policewomen as baits arose after mixed response received by the special squads of Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC). The unit has been performing similar functions for over a year now. In case trained policewomen give away their identity due to their body language, women serving in SPUWAC offices will be roped in as bait, said a senior police officer.

Since February 2014, SPUWAC teams have been conducting surprise checks in DTC buses operating on certain routes notorious for eve-teasing incidents. Dressed in plainclothes, policewomen board buses on the lookout for men who sexually harass women passengers.

“We caught some of them red-handed, but women who were harassed were not keen on becoming the complainants. That will allow the eve-teasers to go scot-free. Now since our own women will be the ‘victims’, it will be easier to prosecute the miscreants,” said SPUWAC Deputy Commissioner of Police Varsha Sharma.

Despite women constables dressed as civilians, they often manage to alert potential eve-teasers that they are police due to their body language and talking style which gave out that they were police.

“During surprise checks, we try hard to portray ourselves as general passengers. We try to speak in soft tone, but it is difficult to hide the hard police language we have developed. That alerts any potential miscreant,” says constable Sunita, who has been part of several surprise checks.

“The policewomen who serve in the SPUWAC office are not trained in martial arts. So, they are less likely to be confrontational and alert suspects. Many of them have agreed to volunteer as decoys, as they know help will be close by in any case,” Ms. Sharma added.

Currently, 45 self-defence trained women constables of SPUWAC, who also impart training to school and college girls, are roped in for these special drives. They are assisted by some male constables in civil dress, whose primary duty is to prevent the escape of a culprit from the bus and to provide additional support in case of physical confrontation.

On the day of their surprise check, a police vehicle with more manpower follows the bus boarded by four female and two male constables.

“We keep our eyes open for every small activity by men that can cause discomfort to women passengers. We also stop men from indulging in non-physical sexual abuse like using vulgar words or playing songs with dubious meaning,” said constable Anju.

All along, one woman keeps a digital camera ready to record any incident in case evidence is required at a later stage. If everything is found to be in order, the police personnel reveal their identities to passengers and educate them on what to do in case they are harassed. A trip ends with policewomen distributing relevant pamphlets among passengers.