'Stop It': Tokyo Police's Smartphone App That Shouts At Molesters, Is A Huge Hit!
Digi Police app blasts out a voice shouting &lsquoStop It&rsquo at the top volume or if you open the app it also has a full screen SOS message which victims can show to other passengers. Offenders face up to six months in jail or have to pay hefty fine upto Rs 383473 The jail sentence is increased to 10 years if violence or threat is used.
With the present scenario of women constantly being molested and stalked, new apps are being launched for their safety. Tokyo police also launched a smartphone app to scare off molesters and the app has become a smashing hit in Japan.
Victims can activate the Digi Police app which blasts out a voice shouting ¡®Stop It¡¯ at the top volume or if you open the app it also has a full screen SOS message which victims can show to other passengers. The SOS message reads, ¡®There is a molester. Please help¡¯.
The app has been downloaded more than 237,000 times which is an ¡®unusually high figure¡¯ for a public service app, said the police official Keiko Toyamine.
"Thanks to its popularity, the number is increasing by 10,000 every month," Toyamine told AFP.
AFP
Victims are often too scared to call out for help, she said. But by using the SOS message mode, ¡°they can notify other passengers about groping while remaining silent¡±.
Offenders will face up to six months in jail or have to pay hefty fine upto Rs 3,83,473. The jail sentence is increased to 10 years if violence or threat is used. There were nearly 900 groping and other harassment cases on Tokyo trains and subways in 2017, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
The app was released three years ago and it was initially aimed to provide information for elderly people, as well as parents and their children about scams. The function to use for molesters was added a few months after the launch.
Freepik
India is also taking care of these things by launching several apps like this. A free app, Raksha, was launched by the Bhartiya Janta Party. After you install this app, the first screen will ask you to register your details, such as name and phone number and then you can use it to notify the police with the emergency button.
Another app was launched by Delhi Police called ¡®Himmat¡¯ for women safety but it failed to serve its purpose as very limited people downloaded the app.
