Shillong: Meghalaya Police is working to make its Women Help Desks more accessible by introducing a system that would allow women facing violence to report incidents from their homes, Director General of Police (DGP) Idashisha Nongrang said on Thursday.
The initiative forms part of a broader effort to strengthen the department’s response to crimes against women and children following a review of the effectiveness of previous awareness campaigns.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Nyaya Sanhita Exhibition in Shillong, Nongrang said the department had conducted an audit of its earlier interventions and identified areas requiring improvement.
“We have done an audit of what we had done earlier and where we have failed,” she said, adding that the focus is now on more targeted and effective measures.
As part of the initiative, Meghalaya Police is working closely with ASHA workers, who often serve as the first point of contact within communities. The programme has already been rolled out in six districts across the state’s eastern and western ranges.
According to Nongrang, ASHA workers have extensive grassroots reach and are frequently among the first responders in cases involving women and children.
The department is also piloting a system under which victims can contact a helpline instead of travelling to a police station. Police personnel would then visit the complainant, record the First Information Report (FIR), and initiate further legal action.
“It is still at an early stage, but we are trying to make the process easier and more accessible,” Nongrang said.
The DGP also expressed concern over the rise of cyberbullying among students. She said Meghalaya Police has been conducting awareness programmes in schools focusing on both physical bullying and online harassment.
Several schools have approached the department for support in addressing cyberbullying, she said, adding that the sessions include information on available helplines and steps students can take if they become victims of online abuse.
On cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Nongrang acknowledged challenges in completing investigations within prescribed timelines, citing delays in receiving DNA and forensic science laboratory reports.
She also noted that prosecutions become more difficult when victims turn hostile during trial proceedings, despite investigations being completed and charge sheets filed.
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Responding to questions regarding a clerical error in court documents linked to the Sonam Raghuvanshi case, Nongrang said the mistake was confined to a single document and that the correct legal provisions had been cited in other records, including those related to transit remand. She added that the state government is challenging the court order granting bail in the case.
On recent incidents along the India-Bangladesh border in Garo Hills, where individuals were reportedly left in no man’s land, Nongrang said Meghalaya Police is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF) and other agencies.
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