Each police station in Mumbai to have a mobile number to register complaints of women harassment

By: WE Staff | Friday, 24 December 2021

For women to register complaints of harassment, each police station in Mumbai now has a separate mobile number.

Meant to improve police response time in cases of crime against women and give them a priority, these mobile numbers will be in addition to the general police helpline numbers.

Following the Saki Naka rape case in September this year, this is a part of the Nirbhaya initiative started by the police.

Joint Commissioner of Police (law & order) Vishwas Nangre-Patil said, “Every police station now has its own mobile number meant specifically for women to reach out if they face any harassment. It has been a week since the initiative began and we are publicising the numbers.”

Another official said that Reliance Industries provided 100 mobile phones to Mumbai Police that will be free for three years.

The official said they will create WhatsApp groups and connect major societies under their jurisdictions. A message on the Whatsapp group will be enough to alert the police if there are any issues related to crime against women. The mobile number will also be displayed on the Facebook pages of each police station.

Sources said the numbers were to be launched at a function by the CM. The function could not be held due to some health issues.

Apart from the numbers, the officials said they would start five counselling centres for each region in the city with help from funds provided by MLAs. 23 psychiatrists provided by Neerja Birla will be coordinating with these centres.

With several cases being made out in the past few months, as per senior officials, they have received a good response for the anti-eve-teasing Nirbhaya squads.

Mumbai police has rolled out a slew of measures to combat crime against women since the rape and murder of a woman in Saki Naka in September.