Delhi Crime Branch recently got its first female Deputy Commissioner of Police in Monika Bhardwaj, a 2009 batch IPS officer. While many have hailed this as a progressive move to initiate women into more positions that were previously occupied just by male officers in the police force, some have also said that it is unfair to give importance to Bharadwaj's gender over her capabilities. "She is an officer. What's the fuss about a first lady officer? Stop discriminating. We are officers and we do work hard to prove ourselves," India Today quoted former DCP North West Delhi, Aslam Khan IPS.
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Recently, in a similar move to give women equal opportunities and positions that were long held by men, Charu Sinha was appointed as the Inspector General of CRPF in the Srinagar sector. Read more about her here.
Who is Monika Bhardwaj
Monika Bhardwaj was born in Sampla Village of Rohtak District, Haryana. She completed her schooling from Rohtak and did her graduation from the University of Delhi after which she prepared for UPSC exam and cracked it. Bhardwaj is a third-generation police officer from her family. Her grandfather retired as a head constable from Delhi Police.
She is married to a software engineer and the couple reportedly shifted to India from the US after their marriage in 2015. In a talk, Monika said that the three core values which she has always lived by are - honesty, truth, and perseverance. By sticking to these values, the officer has created an image of an honest officer for herself.
Bhardwaj was previously appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of the West District, Delhi and became the second woman DCP to do so after Kiran Bedi. She has previously served in Pondicherry where she had reportedly nabbed people allegedly involved in the gang-rape of a 21-year-old woman.
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In 2016, she came into the limelight as she ruled out a communal angle in the lynching of a dentist in West Delhi. She faced abuse on Twitter as she posted a tweet calling for peace. Bhardwaj tweeted, "4 juveniles among 9 arrested for murder of Vikaspuri doctor. No religious angle at all, as rumoured by some. We appeal u to maintain peace." Kiran Bedi supported the officer and advised her to ignore the trolls.
Monika was also in news for handling the violence between lawyers and police personnel in Tis Hazari Court in Old Delhi that erupted due to an alleged parking dispute last year in November. In a video shared by ANI, Bharadwaj could be seen on CCTV footage, pleading before the lawyers to stop violence during a clash with the police.
Makers India quoted the officer saying, "I encourage more women to join police forces because it is important. We are 50 percent of the population and struggling at eight to 10 percent in the police forces."
Image Credit: ANI
Sanskriti Tiwari is an intern with SheThePeople.TV
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