According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Prakash Shah of the District Police Office (DPO), the campaign will focus on creating awareness about the obligation of police to people, their services, legal procedures and also help change local residents’ attitude towards police. The campaign was initiated from district headquarters Martadi by Deputy Inspector General of Police Jaya Bahadur Chand, Far-Western regional police chief.

As part of the campaign, police have been reaching remote areas conveying information about their services and encouraging locals to co-operate them instead of keeping information about criminal activities to themselves in fear of reprisal.

“We have to focus on encouraging locals to bring out incidents of violence against women as such cases have not been able to reach police,” Chand said.

Meanwhile, Shah said if police are able to win over the trust of rural folks, victims will be support to seek legal recourse.

Presently, people in the region hardly turn to police or the local administration for assistance. Hence, victims are not able to seek justice. Cases of domestic violence, child marriage, polygamy, caste discrimination hardly reach police due to social pressure. “Only a handful of victims seek legal recourse,” said Lal Bahadur Shahi, a human rights activist.

The campaign so far has received positive feedback from local residents, while civil society leaders have pointed out that it could prove to be a milestone for police to strengthen their ties with locals.

“Many people are ignorant about exiting laws and most of them think that they are helpless against those with political backing,” said Sher Bahadur Rawal, a teacher at the local Malika Higher Secondary School.

Meanwhile, police said they mobilised security personnel from the DPO and all seven police posts outside the district headquarters.