Marriage not in pink of health? These booths resolved 3.5k cases

Ghaziabad: Over 3,500 women who approached pink booths in the last three months, seeking separation from their spouses, have agreed to give their marriage a second chance after the couples were counselled by cops.Set up last year to provide a safe complaint redressal mechanism to women at a marketplace instead of requiring them to visit police stations, 20 pink booths started providing marriage counselling since March 5 after police data showed nearly 80% of the women approached these units with complaints of family disputes and most cases could be resolved after a few counselling sessions.

In the first five months since their launch on Sept 3, 2023, a total of 3,097 complaints were submitted at pink booths, of these 2,493 pertained to marital discord and cops successfully counselled 2,300 couples, commissioner of police Ajay Kumar Mishra told TOI.The family dispute resolution units were formally rolled out in March by Modinagar MLA Manju Shiwach. Between March 5 and June 9, a total of 4,986 complaints were submitted at these pink booths.“Of these, 4,900 complaints were addressed or resolved. At least 3,525 cases were related to conflicts in marriages where our women officers managed to counsel couples who agreed to reconcile their disagreements and work on their marriages,” Mishra said. On 240 complaints, FIRs have been registered, while non-cognizable reports — a report recorded with the police specifying an offence — were filed on another 36 complaints.Last week, Mishra awarded two women police officers — Ravita Chaudhary, in charge of the railway road Pink Booth in Muradnagar, and Reetu Tyagi, in charge of the Jal Nigam Pink Booth in Vijay Nagar — for their good work. The officers are elevated as SHOs of Niwari and Woman Police Station police stations, respectively.Chaudhary told TOI that most women who approached the Muradnagar pink booth accused their husbands of alcoholism, illicit affairs, dowry-related harassment and unemployment. In some cases, women accused their mothers-in-law of manipulating their husbands or pressuring them with daily chores. There were more serious cases of mental and physical torture too. In many cases, cops had to threaten the husbands of legal action too, the officer said.Each pink booth — nine in the rural zone, six in the city and five in the trans-Hindon areas — has a team of two counsellors, one unit in charge, and a sub-inspector.

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