Life Story: We Come Across Rape Cases of 3-Yr-Olds; Women Tortured For Dowry And Subjected To Acid Attacks

“I remember during childhood how we used to play Chor Police with my cousins and I always aspired to become a police officer since then. It was not easy to convince my family as it was always considered to be a job of a man and women are not easily believed to play such important roles. Being into police force was always a dream and I finally got to live my dream.

Initially I was considered to be a fresher by people but my senior officers gave me a boost by believing in me. I was once stuck in a festival where people were completely out of control. Our festivals are generally too loud and people lose their minds leading to a havoc around. Old people, patients, animals they suffer so much with noise pollution in the name of festivals. Once during Ganesh chaturthi the crowd was out of control and they were not ready to lower the noise of loud speakers and drums. People were so drunk and they kept dancing till late night. An old couple were living with their sick grand child so when they saw us around, they waved and called for help. They requested us to help so I decided to act upon it. My officers had to move ahead for other work so I and my colleague went to the group and asked them to stop the music and firecrackers. They started insulting us by using abusive language. Some how we had to act on it and made them shut the speakers off. One of them was ridiculed by the fact that a woman constable stopped them, he was so offended that he kept looking at us with disgust. By that time our van had arrived and they all ran away from there. It was disappointing to see such behaviour around. Women leaders are often pulled back, but we don’t give up easily.

I was happily executing my duty and loved my job. I had an arranged marriage and my husband is gem of a person. He told me that it’s been his dream to be into police force but he could not get into it and hence he was happy to see me working as a police constable. He says “I am glad that you are living my dream. I can proudly say that my better half is doing my dream job and I am so proud of her.” His business is in Nasik & my duty is in Kalyan so we both meet once in a while.

I just got back to work after my maternal leave. My child is 7 months old and it is my responsibility to give him time but at the same time duty comes first. I remember one of our training sessions when our Sir Mr Pratap Dighavkar rewarded our team for a few rape & dowry cases. He rewards us by appreciating our work and motivates us more & more each time. It is an honour to serve our country in our own little way. At the same time it is disheartening to witness brutal cases every passing day. Little girls are raped and there is so much of negativity around. Men are raised in a very different atmosphere where they are taught how women can be nothing but just objects. We come across rape cases of 3 year olds as well. Women are tortured for dowry demands with acts like Acid attacks, hitting with objects, physical abuse are so common but these women are so helpless and have no place to go. One of the lady who was hit with her daughter by her in laws needed our help and after getting out of the torture she thanked our team by saying you are great & keep up the good work so common people like us can believe in strong women leading to believing in themselves more. This was a great achievement for our team.

We are moving towards a better tomorrow but we will succeed when more women are seen in all the professions. I feel any woman can make a change by taking a stand, as together we definitely can.”

Story By – Mansi Dhanak | Mission JOSH

If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at [email protected]