10 March,2011 08:33 AM IST | | Astha Saxena
Women and Child Development minister Kiran Walia says all vulnerable points in the city can be brought under electronic surveillance to protect women
In an exclusive interview to MiD DAY, the minister said there is a need to change the perception among people that 'influential' culprits can get away with their act.
A girl student was killed in a broad daylight on the Women's Day. How do you think such kind of incidents can be stopped?
There cannot be a specific solution for such kind of incidents. I think the boy who killed the girl in Dhaula Kuan was a psychopath. When you have such kind of people around, there is a high amount of risk that they may react to certain situations differently depending on their state of mind.u00a0
Yesterday, the chief minister said such incidents demonstrated failure on part of police. Also, she said that women feel shy to come forward with their problems. Do you agree?
Definitely. In such cases, two things are of utmost importance - prevention and redressal. Police protection comes under prevention but redressal is still not addressed properly. Most of the women still hesitate to approach police even on ordinary issues. We cannot function alone, people should also support us. One person alone cannot be blamed for such incidents.
Are you taking any step to ensure the safety of women in the city?
On March 8, we started a campaign called "Awaaz Do" for the women in 25 colonies of the city. It involves various NGOs heading groups comprising a woman representative from police department and one person from the colony or neighbourhood. These groups will work within their areas and help victims of such crimes in approaching the police
Any suggestions to make this city safer?
We should increase the use of technology. I think more cameras should be installed at the vulnerable points of the city. With such practice, we will definitely be able to reduce the number of crime cases. People in the cityu00a0 believe that if the culprits belong to an influential family, they can get away easily. This thinking has to be changed. According to me, these kind of complaints should be given more importance.
