Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In 2023, more than 1.80 lakh women made distress calls to Dial-100, seeking police help in cases of various atrocities committed by their male counterparts in the state, said the police on Tuesday.
The Dial-100 service has been operating in the state since November 2015, responding to distress calls from victims seeking police assistance. There are 1,050 police stations in the state, and every police station has at least one First Response Vehicle (FRV) in its area. Women call Dial-100 seeking police intervention in cases of attempted rape, rape, domestic violence, eve-teasing, and other crimes.
According to the police, most distress calls are received during evening hours. In many cases, husbands returning home from work engage in domestic violence. In most instances, the men, often in a drunken state, beat their wives. The argument often starts when the husband returns home drunk, and the wife objects. The arguments often take a violent turn. Cases related to domestic violence, family disputes, and dowry torture also reach the FRV when disagreements between women and their in-laws aggravates.
Police also receive calls related to rape and attempted rape and in many cases rape victims call the police for help after the incident, said officials. There have been instances when women have called, claiming they were trapped and feared an attempted rape. The police promptly rush to the spot to help the woman.
Besides, the police receive calls about child marriage, eve-teasing, couple indecency, kidnapping, and other women-centric problems.
The days
Most of the distress calls from women come on Mondays and Sundays. The issue mostly starts on Friday and they get aggravated by the weekend ñ Saturday and Sunday. Police mostly receive calls on these days including Mondays, the number of distress calls drops by Tuesday.
The time
The police start receiving distress calls from women around 7 pm onwards. The number of calls are highest at 11 pm and it gradually comes down thereafter
Sometimes call turns out to be prank or bogus
SP Dial-100 Beena Singh informed Free Press : ìIn 2023, as many as 89,798 cases of wife-beating, 88,291 cases of domestic violence, 3,110 cases of attempted rape, and 1,629 cases of rape were reported to the Dial-100 control centre.î These are not actual 'cases'; these are distress calls received from women seeking police help. However, sometimes when the team arrives, they find the situation different. Occasionally, the calls are bogus or pranks, the officer added.
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