Jalal Ahmed, brother of a rape victim, developed an app declaring a war against rape.
His sister was sold of by her husband to kidnappers who gang raped her. They threatened to kill her and rape her dead body in the morgue. Ever since that incident his sister hasn’t spoken a word. His mother couldn’t bear the shock and died. But before dying, she requested Jalal to do something for the women of our country.
Jalal founded Bachao.Life Foundation to declare war against rape. His panel of researchers included sociologists, psychologists, law enforcers and teachers from Dhaka University.
The end result was a people-to-people app designed to enable women to seek help when they need it. The app named ‘Bachao’ was launched in August, and was made available for download on October 2.
It has already been download by 100,000 people, most of them being students. 12,000 people had downloaded the app even before any campaign was conducted.
Bachao app uses GPS technology- it connects women in help with nearby volunteers, friends and family. The all sends live location of the help seekers and allows audio communication and texts among users.
When asked about the effectiveness of the app, Jalal said that there had already been 60 incidents where the victims sought help and rapes were prevented. But, in five cases, those who sought help could not be found in the system. It is likely that their phone was taken or disconnected.
“We have sent our volunteers to trace them and see if we can offer any help,” the Bachao.Life CEO said.
