Commisionerate Police launches Helplines for women bus passengers

Bhubaneswar: Aiming to check harassment of women traveling in buses in the Twin City, the Commisionerate Police (CP) today introduced Helpline numbers to assist women facing such a situation under its jurisdiction.

The CP advised on-board women bus passengers to call on the numbers- 100/ 0674-2543541 and  9437581575 in case they are misbehaved or harassed while traveling. They can also send a message on WhatsApp number- 9437581575 for seeking help.

Due to a lack of immediate legal action, the problem of harassment of women and girls in public transports has escalated in Twin City over the years. To put an end to this issue, Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi today announced the Helplines for women. The police will ensure that immediate action is taken against the anti-socials, said an official.

Since women and girls are found harassed mostly while standing inside buses, the state Government recently decided to penalize male passengers found sitting on seats meant for women. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held between Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi, members of private bus owners’ associations and Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) MD Arun Bothra at Police Seva Bhawan recently. A notification in this regard will be issued soon.