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‘Say Help’: How a voice app helped Delhi cops bust human trafficking racket, rescue 6 women
A chance meeting with a policeman at a bar in Indiana in the US in 2019 had led 46-year-old Mahesh Salgaonkar, an Indian origin man based at Houston in Texas, to develop ‘Say Help’. The application is currently being tested by the Delhi Police (Central).
A session was held at Mata Sundri College to sensitise women about the application. Express
The Delhi Police last month unearthed a human trafficking racket in Paharganj. What helped the police to rescue six women hailing from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and arrest a 36-year-old woman? The ‘Say Help’ app.
‘Say Help’, an voice-activated emergency app, enables the user to instantly send real-time video, audio, and GPS details through SMS and WhatsApp to the person’s contacts and the police. All he has to do is send custom voice phrases or push a button on the app and he would be able to avail features like live monitoring and GPS tracking.
A chance meeting with a policeman at a bar in Indiana in the US in 2019 had led 46-year-old Mahesh Salgaonkar, an Indian origin man based at Houston in Texas, to develop ‘Say Help’. The application is currently being tested by the Delhi Police (Central).
Police said the app has until now helped them trace a woman being beaten by her husband, two girls being eve-teased and six women caught in a human trafficking racket.
Around 11.30 pm on October 30, police said they received a prompt in the app from a 32-year-old man who claimed to have seen a woman being forced into a house that was allegedly being run in the guise of a spa.
The real-time video and GPS accuracy of the location gave a clear picture of the events taking place, resulting in a police team immediately reaching the spot.
DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan said, “Posing as a decoy customer, a police personnel was sent to the spa with a Rs 2,000 note and instructed to give a WhatsApp missed call as a signal. As soon as the decoy confirmed the illegal activities and sent a signal, the raiding team entered the premises and found six women and a female receptionist inside.”
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While six women were rescued and the receptionist arrested, a case was lodged under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956.
“During questioning, the receptionist admitted that she was running the operation along with her husband,” the DCP said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Salgaonkar said, “I had gone to Indiana when I met a police officer. We got talking and he told me about the rape and murder of a 14-year old girl. He told me how it took four years for a certain company to give access to her photos in which the accused too could be seen. The delay helped the accused flee.”
It took Salgaonkar, who hails from Goa, around two years to build the application. Officially launched last March, it is available in Mexico, US, Peru, South Africa and Chile.
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Salgaonkar said that last year, during a visit to Goa, a relative asked him if he could launch the application in the state. Following this, when he went to meet the Goa Chief Minister, he also happened to meet DCP Nidhin Valsan. Talks did take place but nothing constructive came out of it.
Last October, Salgaonkar again came to India and the DCP expressed interest in the app. Talks ensued and since September this year, the Delhi Police (Central) has been holding testing the same. And the results are encouraging, police said.
“The application has been downloaded by around 15,000 people. Police personnel are also informing people about the application,” said an officer.
“The main advantage is that the camera of the phone that has the app gets activated without anyone coming to know about it,” Salgaonkar said. He added that ‘Say Help’ collaborates with NGOs and authorities to help prevent gender violence and trafficking, especially in high-risk areas like Delhi.
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