Social cases albatross round police's neck

KATHMANDU, Jan 12: Sita Gurung (name changed), 30, recently left her husband and two children unannounced. The seemingly self-satisfied family, backed by a stable income from business, now seems devastated after Sita, who is currently taking shelter at a friend’s house, is not willing to reunite.[break]



The reunion does not seem likely in the immediate future, as there has not been any effective mediation to reunite the couple now not even on speaking terms.



“She even turned down our request to visit our office and interact with her husband,” said investigative officials at Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD). “She might have dreaded the idea of visiting a police station.”



“It is possible that they could reunite if counseled properly,” officials said. “But we don’t have environment conducive to bringing them together here.”



According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rana Bahadur Chand, the MPCD chief, police have not been able to resolve social cases involving women, children and senior citizens due to lack of friendly atmosphere at police stations. “This is because people dread the idea of visiting a police station for fear that they might be looked upon as a criminal. This feeling hits the vulnerable groups harder,” Chand added.



The Social Crime Pillar at MPCD is currently investigating three different cases of missing married women, among many other social cases, based on complaints lodged by their husbands. “But the women are not willing to come into contact. The cases were lodged here after family and friends failed to broker peace,” said an official.



According to Inspector Dipti Karki, who heads the SCP, most of such cases involving women and children go unresolved. “They need to be treated differently. Rounding them up for interrogations as with suspects of other heinous crimes leads to no result. In such cases, we seek reconciliation instead of prosecution,” she said. “This is our experience.”



The SCP in order to deal with such cases is building a separate facility at MPCD, Hanumandhoka. “We hope the new facility will provide a friendly atmosphere to the conflicting parties in social cases,” Chand said.



“Women, children and the elderly need special handling and need to be treated differently,” Chand said.

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