When sub-inspector Shapla picked up the hotline, she heard a woman screaming for help on the other end.

“Please help me. My husband is beating me. I’m dying,” said the woman in a desperate voice.

The distress call on August 21 this year came from Dhalpur community centre in the capital city.

SI Shapla (who gave only one name), then in charge of Quick Response Team (QRT) of police, gathered her team and rushed to the scene where she found a 22-year-old woman being battered by her husband.

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The team rescued the woman, brought her to the police station where she was given some first aid. The offender-husband was detained and brought to the police station, too.

The rescued woman was later handed to her elder sister. The QRT team questioned the husband and was freed after he promised that he would treat his wife properly.

Shapla’s QRT team kept in contact with the rescued woman and found she went back to her husband and they had been living in peace.

“I feel so happy that we could restore peace in a troubled family,” said Shapla with a smile of satisfaction. “I hope they continue to live this way.”

Azmin Nahar, another sub-inspector in charge of a QRT team, had a similar story of success to tell to the UNB correspondent.

On a November day in 2020 Azmin got a hotline call from a 30-year-old woman who complained that her husband had tried to stab her. The reason? She wanted to leave for her village home in Mymensingh from her Hazaribagh residence to escape her husband’s repeated torture over family matters.

But the husband stopped her and was about to attack her with a kitchen knife when she insisted on leaving.

The woman was rescued and returned to her family, while legal actions were initiated against the husband.

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QRT is a part of Women Support & Investigation Division (WSID), a specialized crime division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) launched in 2010 under police reform programme with collaboration of 10 NGO partners.

The sole purpose of this all-female force is to introduce a women and child friendly policing system and to ensure the empowerment and overall welfare of women in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Since its formation WSID protected around 15,000 families from breakup, according to data provided by WSID.

Besides, the Quick Response Team (QRT) rescued 550 women and children from danger responding to their call through its HOTLINE number 01320042055.

Talking to UNB Hamida Parveen, deputy commissioner at WSID, said that the female police members of this division have been ensuring women and children friendly police services.

“They are preventing violence against women and providing security for women and children in the Dhaka metropolitan area,” she said. “They also raise awareness about violence against women and children and ensure proper implementation of existing laws.”

Hamida is leading the division consisting of one additional DC, two assistant commissioners (ACs), seven Inspectors, 19 Sub-Inspectors, 20 ASIs and 50 constables.

The Division's Quick Response Team provides legal and medical assistance to rescued victims and ensures proper investigation of complaints it receives through the hotline.

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The Victim Support Centre, Investigation Unit, Quick Response Team and10 partner NGOs have been working with the motto "For Better and Safer Dhaka" to provide quality services and overall security of the metropolis through its competent and professional female police members, DC Hamida said.

Victim Support Centre of the Division provides assistance to the victims of cases filed under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 (Amendment / 2003). It also helps locate missing women and children and rescues women in trouble.

From 2009 to October in 2021, a total of 6594 sufferers have been provided services in this centre, according to WSID.