Only reforms can make police more humane

http://newindianexpress.com/editorials/Only-reforms-can-make-police-more-humane/2013/04/27/article1563116.ece

Editorial
Source- The New Indian Express

It is a pity that the Supreme Court had to take suo motu action against police in two incidents in which a girl protesting against the rape of a five-year-old girl in Delhi was slapped so hard by a police officer that she started bleeding and a 65-year-old woman was severely beaten up at Aligarh. The court had to warn the police that it will be constrained to take action against the top officials of the police concerned, if such incidents happened in the future. Earlier, in a case from Madhya Pradesh, the court said the police should have provided proper medical help, including psychiatric treatment, to a rape victim. The court wanted the police to behave better in dealing with women and other weaker sections of society.

If anything, these incidents highlight the stark truth that the police are yet to come to terms with their responsibility which is that of  providing protection to the weak from the strong. This happens because the police continue to be guided by the colonial mindset. Even six decades after Independence, the police are yet to change their outlook, so much so that anyone protesting against any kind of injustice is considered a nuisance to the powers that be and has to be strongly dealt with.

Alas, the rulers, irrespective of their party affiliation, encourage this kind of high-handedness in dealing with people’s struggles.There are operating procedures the police are expected to follow in sex-related cases but they are often flouted with impunity. That is precisely why the apex court had to issue guidelines to the police in this regard. What all this underlines is the urgent need for police reforms. There have been several police commissions, including the one headed by Dharam Vira, which had gone into the whole question and suggested remedial measures. Alas, their reports have been gathering dust in the Home Ministry. These need to be implemented urgently to make the police what they claim to be “with you, at all times”.