Odisha police takes initiative to address domestic violence during lockdown

The Odisha police have come out with an initiative through which policemen will contact women who had earlier reported domestic violence to enquire about their condition over phone during the ongoing lockdown, an official said on Saturday.

The special drive -Phone-Up Programme- has been launched across the state to deal with the problems of domestic violence in the crisis period, he said.

The initiative will be implemented with the help of the State Crime Record Bureau, the official said. The SCRB has contacts of women who had experienced domestic violence in the past, and they will be contacted to find out their present condition, a senior officer of the state police headquarters said.

If violence is reported, physical verification will be conducted to find out the condition of a victim and the matter will be intimated to the Investigative Units for Crime against Women (IUCAW) for follow up action, he said.

"This will address the issues related to domestic violence against women during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of  COVID-19," the official said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had, earlier, asked the DGP to take strong action against the persons involved in the domestic violence, he added.