Guwahati: Assam government has decided to take a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to cases related to crime against women, said chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Rate of crime against women in Assam stood at 166 for 2018, almost three times the national average rate of 58.8. Crime Rate is calculated as the number of crimes recorded per one lakh population.

In 2018, a total of 27,728 crimes against women were registered in Assam (in 2017 it was 23,082), which was 7.3% of all crimes against women in India that year.

On Monday, participating in the first ever conference of officers-in-charge (OCs) of state police stations, the chief minister has asked the state police to take strict measures for all crimes against women.

“Any case of rape, molestation and any crime against women should be treated at priority. We want to take a zero tolerance policy for crime against women across the state,” Sarma said.

He also asked the police department to accelerate investigation process and to furnish water-tight charge sheets within the stipulated timeframe.

“Charge sheet needs to be filed timely for all cases especially related to murder, rape, drugs and illegal arms. The police department should be a nightmare for criminals and a friend to the public and we are working in this direction,” he said.

The CM also assured to provide one four-wheeler to each of the OCs and if there is any problem in travelling by vehicle, one bike would be given so that the police station can function smoothly. The chief minister announced that the state government would provide money to the police stations for sources.

He also asked the OCs of the police stations across the state to undergo health check-ups on every 15 days.

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