The women’s helpline ‘1090’ set up by the Madhya Pradesh police for immediate action on complaints of harassment by women in the aftermath of the horrific Delhi gang rape of December 16 is also attracting calls from distressed men.
On Tuesday, the helpline received a call from a youth in Rewa, about 550 km north-east of Bhopal. A girl had complained that he was harassing her. On learning about the complaint, the boy called up the helpline and told the police that the girl had been in a relationship with him, but he caught her cheating on him and gave her a piece of his mind. It was then that the girl called ‘1090’ and complained against him. When the police inquired, they found that the boy and girl had indeed been friends.

Shefali Takalkar, sub-inspector at the women’s helpline, told HT there were several instances of men seeking action against women who they say are “harassing” them by leveling false charges. Roughly 10% of the calls are from men, said Takalkar.