By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: A number of female police officers have been appointed as Station House Officers (SHO) in multiple districts of Punjab province in line with the recent orders of Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab Amir Zulfiqar Khan to “enhance the role of women police officers”.
The appointments are part of the IGP’s initiative to have at least 100 lady SHOs posted across the province. IG Punjab earlier issued orders of appointing at least one female SHO in every district of the province within the next five days.
The order titled, “Enhance the role of women police officers” directed the Punjab Police commanding officers of every district to post one female SHO by Friday in any police station that the district police officer (DPO) thinks fit.
The order by IGP also said that all urban police stations in big districts and cities should have a lady officer to assist and attend to the complaints of female applicants and victims.
The IGP also appointed Additional IG Training to ensure the appointment of women SHOs in every district of Punjab and submit a report in due time.
Newly appointed lady SHOs
As part of the new postings, lady sub-inspector (SI) Mehwish Aslam was appointed as the first woman SHO in Hafizabad district at Kaliki Mandi police station. Mehwish, a few months ago, in a remarkable display of bravery, single-handedly arrested a rape suspect who was trying to flee from court premises after the cancellation of his bail.
Another lady Sub-Inspector Larib Shahid, was appointed as the first woman SHO in Chiniot district. She was posted at Police Station Muhammadwala.
Azmat Naseem, another lady Sub-inspector, was appointed as SHO Police Station Cantt. The lady officer has also served as SHO Cantt previously.
Another experienced female police officer, Abida Bibi, has been appointed as the first-ever lady SHO in Muzaffargarh district. She was posted in a remote rural town, Bait Meer Hazar of Jatoi tehsil Azmat.
“Abida is an experienced and professional lady SI poised to surpass her male contenders on the performance yardstick,” a police spokesperson said on Friday.
