An unsympathetic disparity between destiny and destination and life can become a fury tale. This doesn’t seem to be unusual these days especially among young girls with the mounting cases of women being misled and embittered by men, leading to serious ordeal and desolation. With over a thousand cases a month of cheating and harassment by males. Bhagini Helpline in the city is inundated with illustrations of the male dictating social structure and its consequences which modernization unsuccessfully attempts to haze.
Initiated by Uday Jagtap a couple of months ago, the helpline has callers from all over the state. Supriya Kothari, one of the counsellors of the helpline says, “Their stories are scandalous and the helplessness and fear of receiving an unpleasant response from the family makes them come to us. From school going kids to women, all of them have stories to tell of deception and mental break down. The cases vary from cheating to extra marital affairs, HIV and physical aggravation.”
“Such issues can be best discussed with women. So, we have Sangita Mavle an academician, Sunita More a doctor and Supriya Kothari a lawyer who handle the cases round the clock. We at Bhagini follow a foolproof procedure. We note their numbers, cross check and then proceed. Till date, we have been able to solve 50 cases completely. Thousands of people have contacted us to become a part of the helpline. With undeterred response from the society, we soon plan to open our branches beyond Pune,” adds Jagtap.
” The transformation in customs leading to more money at a younger age, a feeling that they are unanswerable to the parents due to early economic independence, lack of moral values and the desire to imbibe modernity especially by girls who come from remote areas are some of the reasons that push them into temptations by the antisocial elements.” adds Kothari who feels it is necessary for the girls to be emotionally stronger and to learn to say no.
Talking about resolving the cases Kothari says, “It is a vicious circle and continuous attempts and a change in the attitude is required by those affected, the offenders as well as the law regulators. We put in our best efforts but are often disappointed by the percentage of results that we get in return due to lesser support by the authorities. However, the motivating factors are some inspectors who have been kind enough to personally participate and ensure the advancement of the cases. We do this free of charge and our motive is to eradicate fear, to come forward and fight for justice at the grass root level.”