BHOPAL: ‘Harassed’ husbands in Madhya Pradesh are increasingly turning for help to state police.
The data available with Dial 100 emergency helpline service of the MP Police reveal that on an average, more than six distress calls are being made every day by men seeking police help against physical torture by their wives.
A total of 1,155 distress calls were made by men complaining about harassment at the hands of their wives in the first six months of this year, the Dial 100 data revealed. More than 25 per cent of these distress calls (292 calls) were made by callers from the four major cities (often dubbed as metro cities of MP) — Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior. As many as 92 calls were made from Indore, followed by 75 calls from state capital Bhopal, 73 calls from Jabalpur and 52 distress calls from Gwalior, which accounted to over 36 per cent of such distress calls of top 20 districts in the list.
As many as 46 calls were made from Chhindwara followed by Ujjain (45), Singrauli (42), Dhar (36), Shahdol (35), Satna (30) and 29 calls each from Sagar, Rewa and Betul districts.Around 40 per cent of these distress calls by men seeking urgent help against physical torture by wives were reported from 24 tribal dominated districts, including Chhindwara, Dhar, Singrauli, Shahdol, Betul, Ratlam, Balaghat, Mandla, Khargone and Hoshangabad.
More than 30 per cent calls (246 calls) were made from Indore and Ujjain region which form part of the affluent Malwa-Nimar region of the state. While the details about the nature and details of calls made by the men complaining about their wives are not fully known, sources in the Dial 100 Control Room revealed that in most cases the male callers complained being beaten up by wives due to men’s reluctance to shun alcohol, despite repeated requests and pressure by the family. Most callers had also lost their jobs due to drug addictions and alcoholism, forcing their wives to work and earn.
In some cases, particularly with respect to calls being made from tribal dominated districts (where women in large numbers also consume liquor) the calls pertained to alleged beating of men by their better halves over refusal to share alcohol with them.
Tortured by wives
1,155 distress calls made till June 2018
25% calls made from four big cities — Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior
92
Indore
75
Bhopal
73
Jabalpur
52
Gwalior
46
Chhindwara
45
Ujjain
42
Singrauli
40% calls from 24 tribal districts