In 2017, over 3,000 Chandigarh women made distress calls
According to figures provided by the police, 1,030 women contacted the Police Control Room (PCR) while 2,001 calls were received by women helpline (1091) till July 31.
More than 3,000 city women called at the emergency helpline number 100 and 1091 in past seven months, seeking help in incidents of harassment, stalking, domestic violence and other cases of crime against of women.
According to figures provided by the police, 1,030 women contacted the Police Control Room (PCR) while 2,001 calls were received by women helpline (1091) till July 31. In 2016, PCR reported 1,362 such complaints and women helpline got 3,389.
Harassment common
Harassment is the most common complain which were received by the PCR. This year, out of 700 spots (cases in which police is sent) registered with the PCR, 325 spots were of harassment. A similar trend was reported last year, in which 550 spots out of 800 were of similar nature.
The number of complaints of attempt to rape cases has shown a comparative dip this year. As many as 12 complaints of attempt to rape were reported last year as compared to five such cases till July 31, 2017 .
‘Daily, we receive at least 16 calls from women. They are either college girls, complaining of harassment, stalking, cyber-bullying, or are house wives, complaining of domestic violence,” said a woman police officer at the PCR.
PCR answers 3,000 calls a day
Police Control Room, located at the fifth floor of the Police head quarters, Sector 9 is a beehive of activities where phones do not stop ringing even for a minute. It receives over 3,000 calls in a day and over 300 spots. The number increases to 4,000 during the festival seasons.
In 2016, the Police Control Room received over 1 lakh spots. The calls received were 10 times more.
The most common calls received at the PCR are related to scuffles followed by accidents, noise pollution, women safety, traffic related issues and others.
In 2016, the PCR received over 1 lakh spots, out of which 37,000 (2017: 22,400) were about quarrels, 17,000 (2017: 10,300) were about accidents, 5000 (2017: 2700) related to noise pollution. Around 7,000 calls related to traffic issues in two years (crosshead) (If needed please delete)
The PCR has received 4000 calls in 2016 and 2900 calls this year, so far about people complaining of wrong parking.
Feedback mechanism
One person has been assigned the duty to get feedback from people who had called 100 number. “Daily 5-6 people show their displeasure from the police , so we forward that complaint to the concerned police station,” he said.