Disha' comes handy for Kadapa woman in Delhi

KADAPA: For the first time in the state, a woman from Kadapa district who used Disha SOS application in the national capital, Delhi, was assisted in a timely manner by the police. Meenakshi, a resident of Porumamilla, Kadapa district, who appeared for a teachers’ recruitment test in Delhi, sought police help through Disha app on suspicious behaviour of the driver of an auto rickshaw she was travelling in. The Kadapa police responded immediately and kept in touch with her until she wrote the test and returned to Kadapa. She came to the Kadapa district police office on Tuesday and thanked the Superintendent of Police (SP).

The details were revealed by SP Karur Karunapati Nagendra Kumar Anburajan at a press conference in the district police office on Tuesday morning. Meenakshi (29) from Porumamilla travelled alone from Vijayawada to Delhi on AP Express train on September 10 for a teachers’ recruitment test in Delhi. She reached the Delhi railway station in the early hours of September 11. She rented an auto rickshaw to reach her friend's home. On the way she got suspicious over the behaviour of the driver and called her friend.

Her friend also talked to the driver and was not convinced of his way of talking and advised Meenakshi to get out of the auto. As she was getting down, the auto driver got into a fight with Meenakshi and tried to grab her phone. He demanded the auto rent, but she insisted that she would give it in the presence of the police.

The auto driver, after noticing the approaching police, fled the scene. On her way back to the railway station, Meenakshi opened the Disha app and made an SOS call.

Faction Zone DSP Chenchubabu received the call and contacted her. He along with the Disha police station DSP Ravikumar approached a non-government organisation Mission Mukti Foundation in Delhi. As per the advice of police, the director of the foundation Virendra Kumar Singh reached the railway station and took her in his vehicle to the examination center in Budhpur bus stand area. After the examination Meenakshi was taken safely to the Nizamuddin railway station on the night of September 11, immediately after the test. She boarded the Swarna Jayanti Express train to Vijayawada. She reached Vijayawada on Monday afternoon and reached Porumamilla at 7 pm the same day.

Anburajan pointed out that the 'Disha' app was very useful for the woman in distress in Delhi and suggested that women should take it as an inspiration. He said the 'Disha' app was like a weapon for women at risk. He said the SOS call would come to the police control room anywhere in the country and the police would also respond immediately. The SP appreciated the continuous supervision of the staff of 'Disha' police station. The SP said they would be rewarded. He said 200 calls were received in a single day on Monday. He said so far 2.5 lakh women in the district downloaded the 'Disha' app and the women police were working hard to ensure that all women downloaded it.

Meenakshi said she would never forget the help of SP Anburajan and would be indebted to the police department for the rest of her life. She suggested that all women should download the 'Disha' app. By installing the 'Disha' app on her phone, she was able to get the help of police officers even in the national capital, Delhi, she said.