Manisha Ropeta is attracting attention for a number of reasons, including the fact that the 26-year-old is the first woman of Pakistan’s minority Hindu community to hold the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. She is also one of the few female officers in senior roles in the Sindh Police, reports PTI.
It is challenging for women to enter “manly” professions like the police force in Pakistan’s male-dominated society and culture.
Ropeta from Sindh’s Jacobabad region said, “I and my sisters have experienced the same old patriarchal system from infancy where girls are taught if they want to get educated and work it can only be as teachers or doctors.”
Ropeta, who comes from a middle-class family in the interior Sindh province, wants to put an end to the idea that young women from respectable families shouldn’t interact with the police or district courts.
Because she believes that society needs “protector” women, she joined the police. “Women are the most oppressed and the target of many crimes in our society,” she asserts.
Ropeta, who is presently undergoing training, will be stationed in Lyari’s criminally active district.
She believes that being a senior police officer actually offers women power and influence.
“I want to lead an initiative to feminise the police force and promote gender equity. I have always found the work of the police to be quite inspiring and attractive,” the DSP says.
Her youngest brother is also pursuing medicine, and her other three sisters are all doctors.
Ropeta cites her one-mark failure to pass the MBBS admission exams as the reason she decided to change her career. I then informed my family that I was pursuing a degree in physical therapy while also preparing for the Sindh Public Services Commission exams, which I passed and placed me in the 16th position out of 468 applicants. In Jacobabad, Ropeta’s father worked as a trader. When she was 13 years old, he went away, and her mother moved her children to Karachi to raise them.
Although she acknowledges that holding a high position in the Sindh Police and receiving field training in a location like Lyari is not simple, her colleagues, superiors, and juniors regard her with respect for her opinions and dedication.
Ropeta says that while she was growing up, it was uncommon for girls to pursue higher education, and when her family found out she was joining the police force, they predicted she wouldn’t stay long because it is a difficult line of work. She claims, “I’ve already proven them wrong.
Ropeta is hoping to play a significant part in improving public perceptions of the police, who many people still don’t trust and who consequently don’t report crimes.
The Chenab Times News Desk