Concerned over the perceived sharp spiral in incidents of crime against women, the city police commissioner RK Pachnanda launched two help line numbers on Monday, so the victims could call in with complaints in the event of an outrage and the same could be acted upon without delay.
The top cop said that the help line numbers have been launched in the wake of rising complaints of outrages on women. “We have lately been flooded with complaints of crime against women and have hence launched these help line numbers, so the complaints could be processed and acted upon without delay. The numbers could be accessed 24X7,” Pachnanda said. Other senior officers of the Kolkata police too were present at the launch of the help line numbers.
The help line numbers are 8017-100-100, titled anti-stalking help line (ASK), and 1091. The first number is aimed at taking complaints of obscene SMSes and MMSes and the entire process would be supervised and monitored by the cyber crime cell of the city police. The second help line number is aimed at reaching out to women in distress and is toll free.
Addressing mediapersons after launching the help line numbers at Lalbazar, the city police headquarters, Pachnanda said, “We have already deployed a special police team to keep vigil on civilians and number 100, which is the police help line number in the event of an emergency, is already in use. However, we have now launched two additional help line numbers, so we could respond promptly and effectively to any complaints of crime against women,” Pachnanda said.
{{/usCountry}}Addressing mediapersons after launching the help line numbers at Lalbazar, the city police headquarters, Pachnanda said, “We have already deployed a special police team to keep vigil on civilians and number 100, which is the police help line number in the event of an emergency, is already in use. However, we have now launched two additional help line numbers, so we could respond promptly and effectively to any complaints of crime against women,” Pachnanda said.
{{/usCountry}}The city has been witness to a rash of crimes against women lately, with snatching incidents being one of them. Some of these incidents happened on busy thoroughfares in board daylight and in full public glare. While some cases were cracked and the culprits nabbed, many have remained unsolved. It has been further alleged that in many such cases, police didn’t reach scene of crime in time despite being alerted by the victims.
The top cop further said should a victim prefer to call in with a complaint, as opposed to going over to a police station, he or she should dial 1091.
“It has been observed that some victims prefer to air complaints over phone and it is for the likes of them that we have introduced the number 1091.,” said Pachnanda.