Dowa female police officers have apprehended seven people suspected of committing various crimes.

The suspects, whose criminalities range from defilement to theft, were arrested during a three-day operation dubbed Basadi by Dowa Police Women Network.

According to Dowa Police General Duties Officer Superintendent Gladys Chiwaula, apart from affecting the arrests, the female law enforcers have also sensitized the masses on Gender Based Violence (GBV) as Malawi joins the world in commemorating the 16 Days of Activism against the vice.

She said: “They were of female police officers who were chosen who went to Msakambewa for this raid operation to arrest the offenders especially those committed sexual violence crimes.

“And today, being the last day of the operation. We had a parade. This parade was conducted by the local police station as a whole, including our units which are Mvera, Chezi, Matowe and Dzaleka Police Units all of us the women we met and conducted a parade.”

On her part, Victim Support Unit (VSU) Officer Sub Inspector Amnesty Banda enlightened the onlookers on the essence in uniting to avoid GBVs, reporting mechanisms for GBV cases at VSU, equal opportunity for education, encouraging men to report about GBV, among other things as guiding steps towards making the district a GBV-free zone.

Superintendent Chiwaula has since praised the female officers for demonstrating bravery and determination in conducting the special operation during the arrests.

“One arrest is for defilement and another one breaking into a building and the other one was theft who was apprehended at Dzaleka so in total we had arrest made on that particular night and from the road traffic we had three suspects arrested, so in total we had arrested seven.

“During this period, policewomen demonstrate their sense of determination and dedication by conducting routine duties ranging from traffic checks, manning roadblocks, day and night patrols and others as observed for the past few days,” Chiwaula said.

The parade attracted policewomen in various formations under Dowa Police Station with all dressed in t-shirts while marching with placards bearing various anti-GBV messages along the road.

“Basadi” which literally means ‘women’ in Sotho and Tswana languages is an operation by female police officers across countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The operation focuses on combating priority crimes particularly against women and children, such as defilement, rape, assault, human trafficking, domestic violence and child labour among others.

 Additional reporting by Sergeant Alice Sitima, Dowa Police Station Public Relations Officer.