Delhi Police Starts 'Sashakti' To Train Girls In Self-Defence

The Delhi Police has launched a new initiative 'Sashakti' in order to train girls to use self-defence techniques. The police wants to train over 1 lakh girls and women under this programme.

The Delhi police launched the initiative on Monday, and it was streamed live. As many as 1,500 girls -- from 50 schools and colleges -- took part in the event, reported the Times of India.

Officers also answered questions about online safety and cyber crime.

The training is to be given to girls who can’t afford proper training. It was brought into effect on the insistence of district commissioner of police, Anita Roy, who had also been a student of self-defence. Male students have also been given training on how to help women in trouble.

"The programme aims at not just sensitising females about the lurking dangers, but to overcome them with the help of self-defence training, DCP Vijay Kumar told Times of India.

The Delhi Police has been trying to inculcate a number of safety initiatives. Last year, it launched a mobile application called Himmat, which allows women to send a distress call to the Police Control Room and to their relatives in case of an emergency. The police had even trained a group of 40 women in martial arts to deploy at bus stops, metro stations and the like.

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