Chennai, Oct 3:
The Singappen Special Force (SSF), a dedicated unit of the Tamil Nadu Police for the safety and protection of women and children, attended to 1,045 complaints and helped register 75 cases during September, according to a police press release issued on Friday.
Between September 1 and 30, the force traced 15 missing women and 16 missing children. It also conducted 2,812 awareness programmes in educational institutions, 11,787 programmes at other locations and 706 sessions among migrant workers.
As part of its preventive measures, the force made repeated visits to 57,183 identified hotspots. It also rescued 25 persons with intellectual disabilities, including 22 women and three men, prevented seven child marriages and facilitated the re-enrolment of 227 school dropouts.
In one incident on September 27, an SSF patrol team in Flower Bazaar apprehended a man accused of sexually harassing a 19-year-old woman who had alighted from a Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus. The accused was handed over to the jurisdictional police and remanded in judicial custody.
In another case, an SSF team conducting an awareness programme at a school in Tenkasi found that a 17-year-old Class XII student had been absent for two months. An inquiry revealed that two neighbours had allegedly sexually assaulted and threatened her on several occasions, resulting in her discontinuing her education.
The Child Welfare Committee was informed, and a case was registered. The accused were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
On September 29, an SSF team in Koyambedu responded to a complaint from a woman who alleged that a person had recorded her on a mobile phone without her consent. The team alerted the police station concerned and assisted her in lodging a complaint. The accused was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
Meanwhile, the force has announced a short-film competition for university and college students to create awareness about the safety of women and children. The last date for submitting entries is October 10. The themes include menās role in womenās safety, bystander intervention and societyās responsibility in preventing crimes against women and children.