Ministry of Home Affairs triggers setting up of Investigative Units for Crimes against Women

Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has issued a notification to all the Chief Ministers/ Administrators of all States and Union territories regarding setting up of Investigative Units for Crimes against Women.

The IUCAWs will be set up in 150 Police districts, which are considered to be crime prone with respect to crimes against women in the country. This will be done on a 50:50 cost sharing basis with the States and the Union Territories. The States and UTs have been given the liberty to set up these units at Police districts, according to their judgment.

These units will assist the local Police in order to investigate heinous crimes against women, by providing additional functionalities of proactive policing, intelligence gathering, tackling organized crime, monitoring proper implementation of the legislative provisions, help in awareness generation and social participation in crimes against women.

The Composition of the Unit is as follows:

• 15 personnel out of which 1/3^rdwill be Women personnel
• Headed by Additional Superintendent of Police
• Each Unit will consist of 04 sub-units headed by an Inspector which will form the core investigative Unit
• Two Dy. Superintendent of Police headed by the ASP will function in the supervisory capacity

Hence, according to the proposal, the objective of this Unit will be four-fold:

1. Augment the investigative machinery of the states in relation to heinous crimes against women.
2. To encourage women to come forward and lodge complaint.
3. To improve the gender ratio in the State Police forces for effective implementation of the legislations relations relating to women.
4. Help in awareness generation and social participation.

This initiative would establish an effective role of the Police Department to fight back Crime against Women from all the States and Union Territories.