There was a 40 per cent drop in the number of Indian men calling domestic violence helplines in April following the introduction of lockdown measures, a national coalition has reported.
A total of 1,774 Indian men from 22 states called during the month, claiming their wives had been abusive.
The calls were received by Save Indian Family (SIF), a coalition of more than 40 non-government organisations across the country. Some callers reported verbal abuse and threats, while others said their wives had been physically violent.
The unexpected drop in calls was down to husbands stuck at home with their families finding it harder to make private phone calls, a SIF representative claimed.
“Several men who have approached us on our helpline numbers, have said that they are victimised by their wives and are unable to contact during the day because they were being threatened. Thus, there is a dip in the number of calls. At least 95 per cent of the calls are received around 10 pm, which was rare earlier, prior to the lockdown.”
Image by McKay Savage via Flickr (Creative Commons)