ranchi

Updated: Feb 28, 2015 09:25 IST

Raje Kumari Kujur can deliver a mean karate chop and a deadly kick, just like Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn does on the silver screen.



But the similarities do not end there.



Kujur, 43, a Jharkhand police sub-inspector based in Simdega, has earned the nickname of ‘Lady Singham’ for her unique crusade in real life: of taming Romeos who exploit girls in the pretext of romance. She catches the 'offenders', counsels them and marries them off with the girls they try to leave in the lurch.



The nickname comes from one of Devgn’s most popular characters as a police officer in the hit film Singham and its sequel Singham Returns.



“When I was first posted here I got to learn about the unchecked practice of boys changing girls like clothes after satiating their lust,” said Kujur, posted as officer-in-charge of the district women’s police station.



She often patrols the town’s streets on a motorcycle and has very quick reflexes, courtesy her martial arts skills.



“Initially, nobody complained. But ever since I began wielding my baton on the culprits, scores of girls are coming forward narrating their ordeal and lodging complaints.”



Simdega district -- the township around 160 km from capital Ranchi -- is one of the most backward districts of the state where atrocities against women are rampant. It is also one of the districts where human traffickers lure poor and illiterate girls and later pushed into a lifetime of slavery as bonded labour or prostitutes in metros.

However, she had also faced criticism for attempting moral policing, an allegation, she said was unfounded.

"I don't just go around marrying off couples. We act only when there is a complaint."



The officer said that once she manages to convince the boy to go for marriage, the couple doesn’t have to go far for the rituals.



She makes them exchange garlands amidst chanting of hymns by a priest at the Shiva temple inside the police station premises.



While Christian couples exchange vows at the local church, in case of Muslims couples, Kujur refers them to the local Anjuman Islah-ul-Muslameen, a socio-religious body, to bind them in wedlock.



“I fear none because I am saving precious lives from getting ruined,” said the national level athlete-turned-police officer, who has reportedly saved the lives of at least 25 girls.



“Her contribution towards checking crime against women is laudable,” said Rajiv Ranjan, the Simdega superintendent of police.