Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 7: Police officials handled questions and offered counsel to young college students in a police-student meeting organised at BJB College Friday as part of the police department’s efforts to reach out to the public.
The meet was attended by police commissioner Rajendra Prasad Sharma, deputy commissioner Satyabrata Bhoi and DCP (traffic) MN Bohidar, among other senior officers.
“If you come across any incident of eve-teasing or sexual harassment, write to me, or send me an email or visit our Facebook page, but do speak up regarding such incidents,” Sharma urged the girl students present at the meet.
The commissioner warned students to desist from habits which would affect their careers and avoid bad company. “Desist from habits such as drinking and mingling with the wrong set of people that might involve you in a campus fight. Once a case is registered against your name, it will stay for life. It is not good for your career and you will risk losing out on several opportunities due to a dented college life,” Sharma said.
Questions posed by students to the police officials ranged from cyber crime and corruption to crimes against women.
Satvik Patnaik, a sociology student of the college, asked, “There is a law against public smoking, but we still see people smoking freely in public. Why aren’t laws being implemented strictly?” To which the commissioner replied, “It is a challenging issue, and I believe unless a civic sense develops among people, such problems are difficult to be culled. Under the Control and Prevention of Tobacco Act, we booked around 6,000 smokers last year, but we have still been unable to curb the menace of public smoking altogether. We’ve recently allotted funds to police stations to conduct awareness programmes regarding the issue.”
DCP Bhoi replied to a question by commerce students Chetna Rath on why enough action was not being taken to crack down on eve-teasers. “If there are specific inputs, you let us know and we will act. You can write to us directly and we will take action,” Bhoi said.
In answer to a question regarding cyber security, the commissioner asked students to be cautious while uploading their pictures to social media websites. “I’d ask you to exercise caution while posting pictures on social media as morphing has become a very prevalent menace. We’ve started registering cyber crimes and are trying to set up a cyber crime cell like the one in Cuttack,” Sharma told Varsha Mandal, who said she was a victim of indecent messages on social media.
The additional police commissioner suggested that girls download a ‘Women App’ on their mobile phones which would give them a list of telephone numbers of all police stations in the city.
Swastik, a student, sought to know why people drinking by the roadside were not being taken to task. “Last year, we arrested around 600 persons for selling illegal liquor. I’ll ensure the patrolling parties of respective police stations take care of such problems and ensure a safe environment to others,” Sharma assured.
“Though child labour is prohibited in the country, we see children lesser than 16 working in restaurants and other hazardous places. Why?” asked Prasanna Panda, a visually-challenged student.
“Unfortunately, children employed at dhabas are not considered as minors employed in hazardous work. Once the amended Child Protection Act comes into force, hotel work will come under hazardous category as well,” said the ACP.
