Delhi Government helpline 181 has been flooded with calls from distress women and girls who seek her attention. On an average, the helpline 181 receives 1,200-1,500 distress calls a day and majority of the calls pertaining to Stalking, sexual abuse, obscene calls, dowry related issue and severe violence caused by domestic violence. The helpline number has received 86,718 calls till Tuesday (March 6). And an analysis of these distress calls has revealed that most calls come from outer and northwest Delhi and are being made mostly by working women and students.
Officials said that the scrutiny of distress calls revealed that over 50 percent calls are related to sexual abuse, stalking, following and obscene calls. The helpline has received 65 cases of rape. The Mangolpuri rape victim also called at 181 helpline. Beside this, on an average, helpline received at least one dowry death call a day. It has received 520 calls related to severe violence due to dowry and 3374 (from January 15 to February 23) calls related to domestic violence. Also, most of these calls were made between 11am and 9pm. The fact that most of these calls came from outer, north east and northwest Delhi is significant.
Kulanand Joshi, additional secretary to chief minister and in charge of the helpline, said that out of the 86718 distress calls, over 77 percent has been received at first hand. In the case of missed calls, 85 percent has been called back. The high number of distress calls to chief minister's helpline also reflects that police system is yet to be foolproof and it is not receiving complaints despite hue and cry on the police system.
Joshi also stated that there are three lines at present and the government is planning to start one more line.