NEW DELHI, Jan 31 : If a police station is inaccessible to a disabled woman who has faced violence, a woman police officer should visit a location accessible to her to address her concerns and register her complaint, according to the proposed guidelines for accessibility in Home Ministry-related infrastructure.
The Disability Affairs Department has invited comments from the general public and other stakeholders till February 25 on the guidelines of accessibility in Home Ministry-related infrastructure that includes police stations, prisons, and disaster mitigation centres.
The draft guidelines also stated that in case of violence against a woman with disability, if the police station is not reachable for the victim, a female police officer should visit the place accessible to the woman keeping in mind the accessibility requirements and making arrangements for the same.
“Shelters created or given licenses for victims of domestic violence shall ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities complying approved access standards,” it said.
Also, in case any person is not able to reach a police station due to disability then the police personnel must visit the place accessible to the person to address his or her concerns as well to record the complaint/statement.
“Further, provisions of special arrangements for accessible transport should be made available. There should be a separate accessible unit of transport service within the police force for the persons with disabilities for smooth travel from police stations, courthouses, offices of public prosecutors, or to service providers whose work is relevant for the administration of justice, such as health care facilities where forensic evidence is gathered,” the draft guidelines said.
The draft guidelines for registration of complaint, FIRs, recording of statement of persons with disabilities, maintenance of disaggregated data on crime against persons with disabilities and steps to be taken for ensuring safety and security of persons with disabilities.
Depending upon the nature of the disability of the person seeking help of the police, it is required that different standards or methods are followed for registration of their complaint, recording of statement or any other related purpose in compliance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, it said.
Taking statement of persons with disability in general, if the complainant, informant, witness or accused is a person with disability (deaf or hard of hearing, Blind or person low vision, person with mental Illness or intellectual or learning disability), proper time and space is to be provided to the person for complete narration of the complaint, incident or facts.
“The environment for such person is required to be made conducive. The person who is recording the complaint/ statement must write down all the statements which the person has narrated and after completion, read it out to him/her,” it said.
The police official who is taking down the complaint/ statement must have received training on disability sensitization and on counselling techniques to make persons with disabilities comfortable.
“The statement should be audio video recorded with the consent of the person with disability. Recording may be done with the help of any small device like mobile. In addition to the hard copy of the statement/ complaint, a copy of the audio-video recording to be provided to the person making complaint or giving statement,” the guidelines said.
In addition to above provisions, the guidelines said help of professional sign language interpreters must be taken for effective communication and statement is to be read over in sign language and ensure that the same has been understood correctly before placing a signature on the statement.
Also, if the complainant/witness /accused is a person with mental illness or intellectual disability or learning disability and other disabilities of cognition, in addition to above facilitation, simple and plain language,
Noting that persons with disabilities are more susceptible to cyber-crimes especially to cyber-bullying, the draft guidelines said it is due to inaccessible cyber space and they not being aware that they have been de-frauded or bullied against.
“Therefore, cyber-crime unit of the Police should be trained and be extra vigilant against such incidents,” it said.
The draft guidelines have also said that as children with disabilities are even more susceptible to crime training of officers of child care institutions and police personnel for addressing and handling child victims with disabilities, particularly girl-child is necessary.
Further, provisions of special arrangements for accessible transport should be made available.
There should be a separate accessible unit of transport service within the police force for the persons with disabilities for smooth travel from police stations, courthouses, offices of public prosecutors, or to service providers whose work is relevant for the administration of justice, such as health care facilities where forensic evidence is gathered.
The guidelines also said that police stations shall maintain data on crimes against persons with disabilities disaggregated by gender, age, place of residence, relationship with perpetrator and type of disability in cases of violence and exploitation, including gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities and violence inflicted by intimate partners and be reported to National Crime Records Bureau. (PTI)
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