On November 2, 1974, cheers rent the air as sub-inspector A.V. Usha marched past at the head of an exclusive contingent of 20 women constables at the Rajarathinam Stadium in Chennai. That was the first ever all women’s wing in the Chennai City Police created a year earlier by the Tamil Nadu government headed by M. Karunanidhi.
In the years to follow, such women’s police contingents sprang up across the State.
A new chapter in policing was heralded in the country in 1992 when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa declared open the first All Women Police Station (AWPS) at Chennai’s Thousand Lights Police Station. It was managed by an inspector, three sub-inspectors, six head constables and 24 constables. Its objective was to encourage women to report cases of crime and harassment, which they would find difficult to narrate to a male officer.
