Know How Women IPS Officers Are Shaping the Future of Law Enforcement

Women have been bestowed with the power to build a life, the ability to be the most compassionate nurturers and the instruments to inculcate values and morality among future generations. In the role of a mother or teacher, women enforce discipline with one hand while gently caressing the children with another.

However, these tender hands do not just nurture innocence, rather, they can be strict enforcers of the law, unrelenting protectors of truth, and intrepid guardians of society, who can unflinchingly metamorphose into a commanding role for the sake of social reformation or the betterment of the nation.

In India, women have been eminent architects of social reformation who have fought battles for their emancipation as well as the oppressed and forgotten ones. Remarkable women like Savitribai Phule, Pandita Ramabai, Annie Besant, and Kiran Bedi are some of the women who, with their resilience and grit, contributed majorly towards redefining justice and courage in India.

The women IPS officers in India have been transforming the course of law enforcement, proving that justice, leadership, and courage have nothing to do with gender.

Dr Kiran Bedi

The rise of women IPS officers started with Dr Kiran Bedi, the first woman in the Indian Police Service from the 1972 batch. In the thirty-five years of her career, Kiran Bedi was a part of some groundbreaking endeavours that even got her the nickname ‘Crane Bedi’, especially when she exhibited incredible guts in towing away a high-ranking official’s car that was illegally parked.

What fetched her worldwide fame was her reforms in the Tihar jail. Even after her retirement, Kiran Bedi has continued to be the most inspiring figure, who, with her path-breaking and highly inspiring prison reform, still encourages several young Indian women to join law enforcement.

Vimla Mehra

Following the footsteps of Dr Kiran Bedi, Vimla Mehra was an officer from the 1978 batch from Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Union Territories Cadre, who was the Director General of Tihar jail in 2012 and the first female Special Commissioner of Police in the history of Delhi police.

The most illustrative aspect of her career was the countless changes she implemented for the prison inmates through vocational skill development programs, initiating foreign language courses, defence training programs for women, and also leading the crime against women’s cells.

Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya

Another trailblazer from the Indian IPS, Kanchan was the first IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh who represented India at the Interpol meeting in 2004 in Cancun, Mexico. Amongst the countless accolades she received throughout her career, the Rajiv Gandhi Award in the year 2004, and the President’s Medals in the years 1997 and 1989 were the memorable ones.

It was her exceptional investigation skills and multiple high-profile cases in her kitty that made Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya an incredible officer. She even held the unbreakable record of tracking down 13 dacoits successfully in one year in the role of Assistant Commissioner of Police in Malihabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Soumya Sambasivan:

For every woman dreaming of a loving partner, a caring family, and a cushy job is quite obvious. Thinking of a different future with a path that is usually not something women would choose in India, thanks to the stereotypical beliefs trying to define a woman’s identity and role in society.

Soumya, a distinguished female IPS officer from Shimla, left behind her possibilities of shining in the corporate world, despite having an MBA in Marketing and Finance and a degree in Biology, as well as a comfortable job in a multinational bank, just to answer her call to law enforcement.

While serving for two years in the Sirmaur District, Saumya, the strict disciplinarian, successfully solved two blind murder mysteries and six murder cases. However, it is her unwavering dedication to fight against the molestation of young school and college girls that prompted her to develop a special spray made with nail paint, chilli, and refined oil to immobilize the assailants for around half an hour, giving ample scope for the victim to escape.

Sangeeta Kalia:

Indian history is replete with noteworthy stories of individuals from a very humble background achieving remarkable milestones with their resolution and courage. One similar story is of Sangeeta, the daughter of a retired carpenter from Fatihabad, cracking the UPSC exam in her third attempt to become an IPS officer.

It was not just her perseverance that made it essential to include her name in the list of feisty female IPS officers in India, but her refusal to cower before cabinet ministers and their mood swings and holding her ground, even to the extent of opposing the minister trying to accuse the police for their inefficiency.

The inclusion of women IPS officers has changed the entire perception of law enforcement in India, especially because of the empathetic approach they can bring while fighting for justice for the victims. It cannot be denied that law enforcement is an extremely demanding profession that is both emotionally and physically exhausting, especially with unpredictable work hours. However, how these officers have proven their mettle in fighting against crime alongside their male counterparts has outweighed societal expectations and prejudices.

For instance, Sanjukta Parashar, also known as the Iron Lady of Assam, is a courageous IPS officer who even intimidated the rogue Boro militants when she appeared with her team of CRPF soldiers at their dens armed with AK47s in the Sonitpur District. With her fight against insurgency and fearlessness, even while working in a conflict-infested area, Sanjukta has proved how proactive women can be in preventing crime without letting their feminine tenderness impede their initiatives.

When the women IPA officers of India took their oath to protect the nation and put on the IPS officer’s uniform, they became part of the campaign to transform law enforcement in India. As years pass, these women IPS officers continue to achieve one milestone after another, proving that there is no barrier strong enough to hinder the fulfilment of a dream, envisioned to be fulfilled with hard work and dedication.