DON’T PUT UP WITH STALKING ANYMORE

Delhi Police receives around 100 calls on its antiharassment helpline daily, but many still aren’t aware of the helpline, 1096 DELHI POLICE’S ANTI-HARASSMENT INITIATIVE

What do you do when you pick up the phone and hear the person at the other end say — ‘Wanna be my friend’, ‘Let’s meet na baby’ or ‘Chalti hai kya 9 se 12’? Or when you discover obscene pictures in your message box? Stalkers have been raising irritation levels of Delhi women for quite some time now. Often, they have to hand over such calls to male friends/family to intimidate the caller. However, it is not ideal to have to somehow handle harassment.

“I got my phone recharged and my number was leaked. I started getting random calls from guys and didn’t know how to report them. I didn’t want to register an FIR since I had heard that it leads to rounds of police station. I complained to Delhi Police on their helpline number 1096. Within a day, the calls ceased,” says Monika Khurrana (name changed).

The Delhi Police has come up with a campaign— Hamse Panga Matlab, Delhi Police Se Panga, to spread awareness that help is available nearby.

The campaign is being run on radio and outdoor, and public meetings and nukkad nataks will soon be a part of it. “While female constables take calls, counselling and warning is given by males and females both. They are trained to tackle such cases sensitively, keeping interests of the distressed in mind,” says Monika Bhardwaj, DCP (PCR). “There is induction training and briefings where the team Dial Delhi Police helplines at 100 or 1096 Report your grievance without having to file an FIR Delhi Police’s constables will then counsel the harasser and warn them against repeating it is taught the basics. They are told how to tackle the case sensitively, keeping the interest of the distressed in mind. Most of the girls don’t want FIR, so we handle the cases accordingly,” she adds.