An innocent sounding phone call to a girl may not be so after all, according to the data collected of complains made at 1090 in two years

If you thought eve teasing is the most common problem faced by girls in the city, think again. As per data collected by 1090 Women Power Line of two years, from 15 November, 2012 to December 2014, only 10% cases reported to the helpline were of eve teasing. A whopping 70% were cases of harassment over phone, while 20% of girls complained of harassment and abuse on social networking websites.

Too phoney to handle
As per the data disclosed by Kunwar Raghwendra Pratap Singh, in charge Women Power Line (WPL) , in a span of two years, the WPL received 3.1 lakh complaints of which 2.96 lakh cases have been solved. Sample this: Shehnaaz Ali, a student of IET college was sent lewd SMSes and blank calls. "I didn't reply to his messages or calls. I thought by not getting a response from me he might stop but that encouraged him to trouble me more. So I started to switch off my phone in the night. But at times I used to get notifications of 100 missed calls when I would switch on my phone in the morning. When it became too much, I reported the matter to the women power line," says Shehnaaz.

"Forget about young girls, even elderly women were not spared," informs Ajita Tripathi, a call attendant at WPL. And there are plenty of cases to quote from. Shilcy Augustine, a software engineer from the city, who tells us, "A caller used to phone every day on my landline number knowing fully well that I would be at work. He used to threaten my 15 year old daughter saying if she tells me anything, he will kill me. I brought the incident to the police's notice and eventually, I got to know it was my building's security guard who was calling her and soon he was terminated."

Familiarity leads to harassment?
And that is no surprise as according to Kunwar Raghwendra Pratap Singh, in the majority of cases investigated, the stalker was found to be known to the victim. "Most of the stalkers disguise themselves as strangers but we found they are mostly relatives, neighbours, rejected lovers or colleagues," informs Singh.

"More than young guys, it is the middle-aged men who misbehave," says Shreya Saxena, a student of Class XII. "I used to learn dance from a man around 45. When I finished the course, I started getting calls from different numbers on my phone. Initially I ignored them, but when it got worse, I reported the matter to the police. It came as a shock to me when it was disclosed by the police that it was my dance teacher who was harassing me. He was like a father figure to me," says Shreya.

The data at 1090 also reveals that of all the arrests made, 70% of the stalkers were found to be men above 40 years of age. Shalini Singh, a student of BA first year narrates her experience. "The canteen wallah near my house was a very friendly old man. We would often chat up with him when my friends and I used to sit there in the evening. I also used to get my phone recharged through him. Then, I suddenly started getting blank calls and obscene messages on my phone. At first I ignored it but then my mother complained to 1090, who put my phone on surveillance. From the police I got to know that it was the canteen wale uncle who was sending me messages and calling me! I never realised what a sick man he was."

Amul Ranjan, a psychologist analyses the mindset of such stalkers. "The greatest benefit such middle-aged stalkers get is that they are never suspected, considering their age, and they utilize this benefit of doubt. Most men of this age group have a family and their spouses remain involved with kids and family. They think life has become monotonous and to explore other pleasures, they start getting involved in such activities. Most of the child sexual abusers are also found to be middle-aged men," says Ranjan.

Students a soft target
The Women Power Line also revealed that the most vulnerable of all are students. "Of all the cases registered, 50% of the victims were found to be students, 32% comprised non-working women and 18% women were working professionals."

Varnali Srivastava, an MBA student of Amity University, was getting obscene messages on her Facebook account from more than two months. It became worse when the stalker sourced her mobile number and started harassing her over phone. "He used to call me from different numbers so that I respond to the call. He would start the conversation on a polite note wanting to befriend me and when I would refuse, he used to abuse me and threaten me with bad consequences. In the end I approached the police and they apprehended the guy."

A student of BSc first year from Lucknow University shares another incident. "Once a man met me near my hostel and introduced himself as a police official. He took me to the basement of an apartment and started asking me about my personal life. He tried molesting me when I shouted and ran way from there."

And just why students are the ideal target is because of their fear psychosis and their inability to confide in their parents for the fear of being blamed for the harassment. Kavita Dhingra, a clinical psychologist in Lucknow says, "In our Indian culture, parenting to some extent is a failure. The parenting pattern has not changed much, parents though have started giving freedom to kids on choosing a career but they remain conservative. Most of the young girls hesitate in sharing their problems with their parents for the fear of being misunderstood and blamed for encouraging the perpetrator. They feel that if they complain about being harassed they will lose their freedom. That's what the perpetrators take advantage of as they know the victim is never going to complain about them. Thus they become soft targets. It's imperative that parents instill that sense of confidence for themselves in their children."

Angels of hope
1090 Women Power Line is making it easier for girls to come forward and complain aboput anyone harassing them. And for that the WPL is helping colleges appoint Power Angles in each college in the city to help girls over come their fear and report any harassment.

"WPL is sending letters to principles of school and colleges across the state to enroll girls to become Power Angels. The letter will be dispatched in two days. We have asked them to appoint three girls in each section of every class from class X onwards to register other girls' complains and report them to teh authorities. We have also asked the local police to ensure proper feedback from schools and colleges. Through this our aim is to make girls speak up for themselves. The feedback from schools has to reach us by January 31," informs Kunaw Raghavendra Pratap Singh, in charge WPL.

BDST: 1720 HRS, JAN 13, 2015