Tejashwini — Calcutta police’s self-defence training for women — will now be held every month.

The city police have trained over 700 girls and women as part of the five-day unarmed combat training programme.

As many as 289 girls and women, aged 12 to 40, had enrolled in the latest session of Tejashwini on the Maidan from March 4 to 8.

“School and college students, trainee doctors, bank executives and homemakers had all enrolled because each of them needs to learn self-defence,” a senior officer of

Calcutta police said at the Police Athletic Club on Wednesday.

Calcutta police commissioner Anuj Sharma said efforts were on to make the training a part of a bigger initiative to check crimes against women.

“We are trying to create a multi-pronged approach by not just training young girls in confidence-building through unarmed combat but also approaching schools to teach girls good touch and bad touch and create awareness about cyber abuse,” Sharma said at the closing ceremony of the third phase of Tejashwini on Wednesday.

“The last time I attended this event, I had requested my colleagues to turn it into a quarterly affair. But after seeing the demonstrations (by the Tejashwini participants) today, I am requesting if this could be organised more frequently, once a month,” Sharma said.

The first chapter of Tejashwini had started in May 2018. The second phase was held after over a year, in November 2019.

Several participants of Tejashwini demonstrated skills they picked up over the last five days and ways to save themselves when attacked.

The city police also re-launched its “Respect Women” campaign at the event on Wednesday. What was earlier limited to pasting stickers and distributing leaflets will now take the form of a campaign across city schools.

“Warriors — a group of women constables of Calcutta police who have received commando training for handling law and order situations and exigencies alike — demonstrated a part of their training, including dismantling and re-organising their guns and rifles blindfolded.

Winners — an all-women anti-teasing team that operates around girls’ schools, colleges and tourist spots — was also part of the event.

Bollywood actors Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangda Singh, director Sujoy Ghosh and Tollywood actor and Trinamul Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty were present on the occasion.