How to be a good anti-Romeo cop: UP police's new training programme

The Uttar Pradesh Police department conducted training sessions for its men to become good anti-Romeo cops.

Lucknow, May 24: After the Uttar Pradesh government received severe criticism for its much-publicised anti-Romeo squads, now, the state police department is providing training to cops to become "good" anti-Romeo policemen.

The training programme, currently underway in Lucknow, asked police personnel to stay away from harassing young couples in public spaces. A main part of the training sessions is how to spot a "Romeo" and on how cops assigned to the squads must behave.

The newly-formed Bharatiya Janata Party government in UP started the anti-Romeo squads to protect women from eve-teasers and molesters in public spaces.

"Suppose a boy and girl are sitting together and chatting. Is that harassment? No. But suppose the girl draws a line and says I don't want to chat more and the boy persists, that is harassment," said senior officer Navneet Sikera, who is training the cops, part of these squads. Sikera added that the policemen are not against lovers.

The creation of the anti-Romeo squads was a poll promise of the BJP. While many appreciated the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath government's initiative to protect women in the state, who often faced sexual assaults on the streets during the previous regime of the Samajwadi Party, others protested against the move as many men/boys complaint about harassment faced by them even for talking to girls/women.

A recent report by The Hindustan Times stated that the "pro-women group" will now be called as the Nari Suraksha Bal (Women Protection Force). After UP, BJP-ruled Haryana also formed a special group, Operation Durga, to protect women recently.

OneIndia News