Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In a bid to check the increasing rate of crime against the feminine gender in the national capital, the Delhi Government on Monday launched a round-the-clock helpline ''181'' for offering immediate help to women in distress.
However minutes after its launch, the helpline, which operates from the Chief Minister's office in Delhi Secretariat, suffered a technical snag.
The technical snag, which hit the women’s helpline, is a major embarrassment for the Delhi government, which has faced intense criticism for failing to improve the security situation across the state.
The helpline will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city.
The number '181' can be dialed from landline and mobile phones.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had last week announced the setting up of the helpline service amid nationwide uproar over brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus.
Dikshit, who has condemned all incidents of violence and sexual assault against women, said the Help line number 181will play a major role in helping the women in distress.
Telecom Ministry had released the three-digit number following the Chief Minister's request. This is the first three-digit number to have been allotted by the Ministry in two years.
However, amid outpouring of anger and grief in the country, the body of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim was flown to New Delhi from Singapore early Sunday morning and cremated within hours.
The mortal remains were flown to the capital in a Special Aircraft of Air India and after landing at IGI airport. Family members accompanied the body. The cremation took place under a dense cover of fog.
The girl was gang raped and brutally assaulted by six men in a moving bus in South Delhi on the night of December 16.
With ANI Inputs
First Published: Monday, December 31, 2012, 08:32