Thiruvananthapuram: The issue of women safety is not new to the ears. Women have been repeatedly exposed to violence since time immemorial. The Constitution may have passed many strict laws in a bid to restrict the number of crimes but its time bound manner has regularly failed from improving such challenges faced by the female population of the society even today.

However, redefining policing and enhancing security for women in the state, IPS officer Vijay S Sakhare, posted as Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Kochi, has developed an app called ‘Nirbhayam’, an emergency helpline that may now be only just a five-second-long press away of an ‘Alert’ button on their mobile phones.

The app, launched by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on February 5, 2021, intends to share information regarding imminent threat to women with the police instantaneously.

“Nirbhayam-the shied’, is an initiative of Kerala Police for the safety of women. Kerala Police is always in the forefront of using technology for better delivery of public service,” the IPS officer said on Twitter while discussing how the idea came into being at the very first place and how it has been designed to enhance women’s safety in the whole of Kerala.

The app was ready before the coronavirus pandemic struck the country, Sakhare says, but he was unable to launch amid the crisis situation.

The app is now freely available for download, from both App Store and Google Play. If a woman is in distress or under any threat, at any point of time or place, she just needs to open the widget and press and hold the ‘Help Button’ for five seconds. The app automatically sends the location of the woman needing help to the nearest police control room or police station.

In addition, the application also provides the option to send text and audio messages. Not only this, but the victim can also share pictures and videos to the police discreetly, which can be later used as evidence to punish the assailant.

The beauty of this application is that once the woman has started the process of sending a message, the assailant can’t stop it even if he is aware of it and tries to snatch away the phone. Moreover, unlike other applications, this app does not require an internet connection to send an alert to the police, as the message can also be sent via SMS.

The Kerala Police has adopted a multi-pronged approach to popularize this particular application, from sharing it over social media posts, Facebook page, asking celebrities to post it and going to every house to make people aware about it. /BI/