The Andhra Pradesh Police on Saturday said over 16 lakh women have downloaded the Disha app on their smartphones.
Andhra Pradesh Police have launched Disha app in February 2020 with the purpose to serve women in distress, said Deepika Patil (IPS), Disha special officer.
Speaking to ANI, Patil said, "Shake your smartphone, police will reach you out. Over 16 lakh people have downloaded the app till date. Over 1.5 lakh SOS calls were made but most of them are testing ones only. During the past one and a half year, 850 actionable calls were received. And 160 FIRs are registered."
She said there are around 60 lakh women in Andhra Pradesh who have smartphones. So, much awareness should be created so that all women install the app.
The special officer told that on average it takes 10 minutes for the police to respond to Disha distress calls. Giving an example of a quicker response, Patil said that a woman in East Godavari district attempted suicide, she consumed poison and used Disha app. The police team reached her house within 2 minutes. After treatment, she was given counselling and rehabilitated.
Deepika Patil explained how simple it is to use the Disha app once it is installed on a smartphone. Put the Hand Gesture Option on. Just shake the phone when in any problem or distress. The police will get your location and a 10-second audio and video clip will be recorded automatically. They can rush to the victim within minutes. So in a way, the app is nothing but "Police at one's fingertips".
Deepika Patil further said, "After Tadepalli rape incident, a mass awareness campaign about the app is launched. Gram volunteers are going door to door and instaling Disha app for women. Every woman should understand the need for Disha app and install this app on her smartphone."
( With inputs from ANI )
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