The Cuddalore district police have launched a round-the-clock helpline for women and the elderly. The helpline numbers, Hello Seniors 8220009557 and Ladies First 8220006082 were launched by the district police superintendent, S Sakthi Ganeshan at the district police Superintendent's office on Saturday. Tamil Nadu Police in a statement said that this helpline initiative launched by the Cuddalore police will be a model for the state and would be extended to other districts in due course.

The district Superintendent on Police while speaking to IANS said, "We have launched this initiative for women and the aged to start with and those in need can contact the police 24x365. Women and aged can register their complaints in these helpline numbers which will help the police act swiftly." He added, "These Whatsapp numbers are directly linked to the District control room and will be monitored by the District Superintendent's office directly".

Police are of the opinion that several women, who are facing abuse at the workplace and even at home, are reluctant to lodge a complaint by reaching the police station and filing a case but the helpline numbers would remove the bottleneck of reaching the station and lodging the physical complaint. Cuddalore district Police Superintendent said, "The name and other details of the complainant will be kept confidential and this is to encourage more people to lodge complaints without fear of relatives, office colleagues, or even neighbours." Police are also ensuring that this is a parallel channel to reach out to the SP directly instead of the routine route of through the local police stations.

In April last year, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women issued helpline numbers to provide counselling and legal help to women affected due to lockdown. It was reported that on the day the helpline was launched, the Commission received 394 calls from across districts.

(With inputs from IANS)