Dial 1091 isn’t anymore a ‘wives only’ privilege. Ask the helpline’s harassed counsellor who is now bending the gender divide to provide antidote for all types of ‘harassment’ calls.
Call it a sign of desperation or ventilation of frustration, but calls from harassed husbands to women’s helpline numbers like 1091 and 181, are steadily rising. If that isn’t shocking enough, those who deal with such calls claim the requests range from the bizarre to the downright sob stories. In one such instance a man called up 1091 to complain about his wife’s extra-marital affair with a threat that he was suicidal.
The counselor and cops sensed desperation in his tone and rushed to his place to counsel him before he took the extreme step!
In another case the helpline received a phone call from a man whose wife had left him and he wanted the helpline’s help in tracing her.
“When we started with the helpline we hadn’t imagined men calling us up to complain about their wives. Though 95% of our calls are still from women in distress, the rest are from men, of which, some call only to complain about their wives,” said Ruzan Khambhatta, founder of Police Heart. She said that though the helpline doesn’t entertain such calls unless in critical cases where the counsellor thinks the caller may harm himself, they often advice such men to get legal help.
Counselor at 181 helpline, Archana Thakor, who too gets such calls from males said that usually the number of such calls is low. “When we get such calls, we guide them to agencies that run a helpline for men or for marital disputes,” said Thakor.
Complaints from husbands include claims of mental torture by wife, extravagant lifestyle of wives or their demand to stay away from parents in-law.
President of Akhil Bhartiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Sangh, Dashrath Devda said he too is surprised by the trend of men calling up women helpline numbers. He said this shows the reality that it is not just the women who are oppressed.
“One reason could be that while there are many helplines for men there are hardly any for man. There are no forums or place where he can talk about his problem or get counseled,” said Devda, adding, “I think there should be a help-line for men too.”
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