Complaints pour in, police to start clinic to resolve couples’ disputes

Noida: With a spike in the number of domestic violence cases in the three months of lockdown, a family dispute resolution clinic will be activated at Knowledge Park police station in Greater Noida from Monday.
According to the police, around 200 to 250 cases of domestic violence have been reported every week since the lockdown. In addition, marital discord or complaints against partners have also been reported in this period, with four to five serious cases which required counselling to prevent an FIR.
The clinic, which was to start earlier this year, got delayed due to the lockdown. It will now begin operations with three faculty members from the legal, psychiatry and psychology departments of Sharda University and hospital as well as police personnel of the rank of a constable or sub-inspector.
“Till now only mahila thana (women’s police station) in Sector 39, Noida was addressing these cases, which was not possible during lockdown. Also, the station being very far away for some residents of Greater Noida, the distance became an issue. So now, we’ve decided that with this facility, all 498A cases of Greater Noida can avail counselling sessions here itself, even as other services are open to all residents of the district,” said DCP Shukla.
“With unlock, we decided to start the facility because a longer solution through counselling can be sourced from this facility rather than an FIR. My plan is to leverage this new centre to cater to the variety of complaints that we are getting. Dedicated counselling needs to be imparted based on the nature of the complaints so that adequate solution is sought without the registration of an FIR,” Vrinda Shukla, DCP, GB Nagar told TOI, adding that she discussed with Alok Singh, the police commissioner of GB Nagar, the requirements and protocols of starting the centre.
A faculty member from the legal department of Sharda University will also join the team of counsellors or legal advice.
A room at Knowledge Park centre has been prepared with necessary fixtures such as AC, CCTV cameras and partition.
“The room that has been provided to us has been fixed with all necessary fixtures, where two teams of three members each from our legal, psychiatry and psychology departments, will visit the centre on a roster basis,” said Dr Ajit Kumar, joint registrar Sharda University and Hospital.
The family clinic team will also have the presence of police personnel at the rank of a constable or a sub-inspector level. “We cannot dispense with the fact that it’s a legal activity and we need representatives of the police present at these sessions,” said Shukla.