Govt moots one-stop centre instead of counselling desk at police stations

Based on a direction issued by a division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad seeking details of counselling centres in police station to help women and child victims, Additional Government pleader E Manoharan submitted that the feasibility of locating counselling centres and to utilise the services of counsellors, depending upon the nature of victims, for instance child abuse or rape or any such heinous offence affecting the children has to be done in coordination with the director of medical education.

Also, recording the submission that a joint meeting of the Director of Medical Education, Commissioner of Social Defence, competent authorities from the Welfare Department and NGOs involved in counselling would be convened to sort this out, the bench said, “We are of the view that the Director of Medical Education (DME), Tamil Nadu, is also necessary and proper party. Therefore, we deem it fit to implead the DME as a respondent in the case.”

Also noting that details of the case where victims are children and women across the State of Tamil Nadu has not been submitted, the bench sought for the same and directed the submission of deliberations and resolution of the proposed joint meeting by August 2 and posted the case to August 5 for further hearing. The bench on issuing notice to the DME also directed him to furnish the details of hospitals not attached to the medical colleges.

Earlier, S Thanasekara Pandiyan, Joint Director, DSD and R Santhiya Maheswari District Welfare Officer, who appeared in person, submitted that as of now three NGOs aided by Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Board have given their counselling tovictims.

Santhiya Maheswari also submitted that as per Supreme Court directions on December 11, 2018, one-stop centre has been established in every district hospital with a cadre of five persons including two case workers, one counselor, one Centre administrator, one IT person to upload the details and one merit purpose worker. “So far, counselling has been given to victims of domesticviolence, rape, child marriage, etc in more than 200 cases,” she added.