Lone women traveller helpline receives 400 messages in first three days

The newly-launched SMS-based helpline for girls travel alone by auto-rickshaws and taxis received four hundred text messages within the 1st 3 days once its launch. However, the bulk of them were 'test' messages sent by individuals curious to understand if it absolutely was extremely operational, aforementioned police sources. The helpline needs girls to supply the identification number of the vehicle they're travel in.

The helpline—9969777888—was launched within the light-weight of the Esther Anuhya murder case. The messages that ladies send to the current range would be recorded in an exceedingly central server primarily based within the city police room. The system conjointly would facilitate the police verify the cell tower location of the sender.

"On Saturday and Sunday, the helpline range recorded 250 text messages. However, none of them contained vehicle registration numbers of taxis or auto-rickshaws. They were merely sent by individuals to see if the helpline was really functioning. On Monday, however, the amount received around one hundred fifty text messages from everywhere the town, and every one of those messages contained vehicle registration numbers of autos and taxis that the senders were travel in," aforementioned deputy commissioner of police and city police's interpreter Mahesh Patil.

"These details are going to be hold on within the server and might be wont to give the police clues to the investigation just in case any untoward incident happens. every such text message gets a response, advising the sender to decision the a hundred helpline just in case they think that one thing is amiss. a minimum of one large integer such messages may be hold on within the system," Patil additional.