30 April,2018 08:28 AM IST | Mumbai | Anamika Gharat
Children's room at Wagle Estate police station
Imagine an interrogation room with Noddy, the Little Mermaid and Jungle Book characters on walls? We're not kidding around. The Thane police have a fun yet relaxing children's room at the Wagle Estate police station that has been helping them to tackle POCSO cases better - the room is meant for victims and their parents, which has been helping the children to become calmer and open up to give statements.
An officer said a police team decided to build this room a year ago. "We have to deal with children on a regular basis, be it POCSO cases or those under PITA or child labour, and 99 per cent of kids are scared of police stations and policemen, because of which they don't share all the details. It then becomes difficult for us to record their statement. So, we make them sit in this room, give them some time to play with the toys and games inside, and when they start feeling comfortable, we take their statement," the officer added.
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"Officers from other police stations in Thane city also bring the children here to record their statements. In the last seven months, we have taken down statements of 60-odd children."
Approximate number of statements of children recorded in last 7 months
A woman whose 12-year-old daughter was raped by the girl's father said, "My daughter only told me she had a stomachache. I found out she was pregnant after taking her to a doctor. I rushed to the police to lodge a complaint. She was very scared in that atmosphere, but the police officers handled the whole thing very well. They let her play in that room for the entire day, to help her to de-stress, and during the course of it, they spoke to her gently and bit by bit got all the information from her."
Senior inspector of Wagle Estate police station R D Malekar said, "This room was built under the guidance of Thane CP Parambir Singh. Whether it is an outside problem or something in their own homes, the room has been helping kids to relax, feel safe and comfortable, and that helps us in the cases."
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