One Touch Response: A personal safety app stresses the need for women safety in Delhi

One Touch Response (OTR), India's personal safety and immediate assistance services, reiterates the importance of women safety in Delhi NCR by drawing attention to 5 of the most unsafe roads for women in Delhi NCR, which despite being densely populated and located in the heart of business and residential hubs, have a history of being unsafe.

Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road

With most of the shopping malls and pubs located on MG Road, this stretch has become prone to crime and considered unsafe for women. There have been innumerable incidences of eve teasing and molestation as well as rapes in moving cars/radio cabs.

Gurgaon-Faridabad Expressway

Known for being deserted and extremely dark, this expressway has a major dearth of streetlights. Since deep forests on both sides surround it, it becomes the perfect escape for the criminals.  The absence of regular police patrolling on the expressway amplifies the lack of security for travellers.

Nelson Mandela Marg

Infamous for the murder of the reporter, Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008, 3 murders in 2011 and multiple harassment cases (as cited in news reports), this road has earned itself the equivocal title of being one of the most unsafe stretches in Delhi NCR. The dearth of streetlights makes it deserted at night.

Dhaula Kuan Ridge Road

Dhaula Kuan Ridge Road has seen maximum crime against women and has been thus tagged as the ‘Nightmare Street’.  News reports cite the most noted crime in this region (Buddha Jayanti Park) to be the gang rape of a call center employee.  Lack of improper street-lighting and regular police vigilance adds to the menace.

Benito Juarez Marg, Satya Niketan

The 500-meter stretch from Moti Bagh Gurudwara to Satya Niketan has been a crime hot spot for rapes, molestations and even murders. This place has witnessed quite a few major cases including the abduction and rape of a 29 year old BPO employee in 2010, among others.

The following safety tips can help women be safe on Delhi roads, especially at night:

1. Be aware of your surroundings

2. Attract attention if you are in a distress situation

3. Always carry a whistle or personal alarm

4. Never use earphones while walking on streets

5. Look at shadows on the ground. If one is bigger than yours, turn back to check if anyone is there.

6. Look behind you every time you turn a corner to make sure no one is following you

7. Note "safe houses" along your route

8. While walking, walk facing the traffic

9. When arriving home by private auto or taxi, ask the driver to wait until you are safely inside

10. Download the “One Touch Response” mobile app on your phone and ensure an on-site, response to any kind of emergency, within a span of few minutes

OTR can act as the go-to “push for action” in places where there appears to be increased risks to women. Using the One Touch App, subscribers can activate safe tracking services, which monitor them as they travel through unsafe areas or when travelling at odd hours.

OTR checks in on the users’ wellbeing and incase of any emergency, with just one touch of the SOS button on the App, subscribers get connected immediately to its Command and Control Centre (C3).  In the mean while, one of the nearest OTR First Response Teams (teams of trained professionals), stationed strategically around the NCR, are dispatched to be by the side of the OTR subscribers within minutes.

OTR offers a single point of contact for all situations such as personal safety monitoring, managing physical threats, road accidents and medical emergencies or on road assistance.