Bhubaneswar: A woman IPS officer in Odisha has recorded and released a song to give women the confidence they need to confront eve-teasers.

Sarah Sharma, the SP of the southern Gajapati district, released the song along with the Gajapati police at the district headquarters in Paralakhemundi on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old IPS officer is a trained vocalist of Hindustani classical music. Her Odia song titled ‘Narira surakhya pain neichhu pana’ has been a rage on social media.

“I love singing, and I sing whenever I get the time and the atmosphere. I decided to sing this song myself because this project of police helping women who face eve-teasing is close to my heart. I am glad the song is being liked by many,” said Sharma, a 2010-batch IPS officer, to News18.

The song was part of Sharma’s project to address harassment and eve-teasing, for which she also formed a special police team called ‘SHE’ (which stands for ‘Safety-Health-Environment’).

The project is modelled after a Hyderabad police initiative, as part of which a team, comprising seven constables and led by a woman sub-inspector, will patrol sites frequented by women and take quick action against eve-teasers.

The SHE team, with assistance from the District Child Protection Unit, will also give counselling to the victims.

“Dozens of young women I met in recent months told me that they frequently face eve-teasing and that these nuisances are so severe at some places that it makes women’s lives difficult. The SHE team will ensure that women go about their work in public without any fear,” said Sharma, who was appointed in February.

The lyrics of the song roughly translate to “Daughters and daughters-in-law, fear no more. Here is the phone number, dial it. Passing comments at women will no longer be tolerated. You must give road romeos a scare”.

While she trained at the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy (BPSPA) in Bhubaneswar, Sharma attended music classes to hone her skills.

“Music is a passion for me, apart from reading and writing,” said the IPS officer, who pursued MPhil in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) before cracking the UPSC examinations.

(With inputs from Basudeva Dash)