Equipped With Books, Toys, Board Games: To help kids feel safe at police stations, 11 child-friendly centres come up

“There are children who leave their houses and are rescued from other cities or states; some are also victims of abuse. Also, some juveniles get into petty crimes and are in conflict with the law. We want to help all these children and their families. They are often scared of visiting police stations and don’t interact with officers. These child-friendly spaces have been created so that they can walk into any police station freely and record their statement,” Rangnani said.

All centres have books, toys, educational board games, notebooks, colours and the furniture is child-proof.

Police will deploy women staff at each of these centres.

According to a senior officer, at least six-seven children visit a police station every day. Many are victims of rape, abuse, or domestic violence, and take time to identify or give names of the accused as they feel scared.

“There are many missing children’s cases at Jahangirpuri police station. The victims run away and are later brought back to the police station. At Model Town police station, we have several cases of domestic violence where women leave their homes with their children and come to the police station for help. At Subhash Place, a commercial area, many families come with their children for tenant verification and other work. In all these cases, we have found that the children feel uncomfortable at the police stations,” said the officer.

The centres will help children see police stations in a “better light”, especially since staff will actively engage with and counsel them.

Police also planned to use the centres as a creche for women staffers, many of whom work 10-12 hours a day on patrolling duty and need a space where they can safely leave their children.