The youth wing of Shiv Sena, Yuva Sena, announced helpline numbers for protecting women against sexual harassment and eve-teasing. Under the guidance of Aditya Thackeray, they have launched multiple numbers for the city of Mumbai, Pune, North Mumbai and Mulund.

Yuva Sena First Helpline: 9004797777, 8097003407, 9967141777

Pune: 9604848959, 9823727505, 9922921212, 9422517490, 9890000018

North Mumbai: 7738717273, 9867012697, 8097040973

Mulund: 8082111123, 8352022221, 9833325532, 9920369090

The helpline was launched on December 28, 2012 in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. The numbers are active 24x7 and are committed to help girls even at unruly hours.

Yuva Sena member Samadhan Savankar said they have seen a good response to the helpline. "The first two days saw more than 1,000 calls. Girls from Pune and Mumbai started calling immediately with problems of eve-teasing," Savankar said.

"We have allocated groups of 10 to 12 people in all areas of Mumbai, Pune and other cities making it possible for us to provide aid to the girls within five to ten minutes of them calling us."

He also specified that most cases were seen in prime locations like railway stations and bus stops. "It is quite shocking that girls are eve-teased in such heavily-populated areas," he added. These groups are allocated in South Mumbai, Bandra and other such prime areas all across the city.

Talking about expanding the services of this helpline, Savankar said, "We are committed to this service and are planning to grow this helpline throughout Maharashtra. Helpline numbers in Kolhapur and Satara will start soon."

The Thackeray scion on social networking site Facebook said, "This is an effort that needs you to be active! The government must be insensitive, failing, but we cannot afford to sit and let our country go down. Rise up and share this with as many people as you can. Lets act, not only talk!"

Meanwhile, Shelia Dikshit's '181' helpline for women in Delhi was supposed to be launched on Monday. However, due to some technical glitches the number is still not active.

Click to read: Delhi helpline fails to take off even after launch