Ahmedabad: In 2024, the Abhayam 181 helpline, primarily established to address women’s issues, fielded 655 calls from desperate parents in Ahmedabad who wanted intervention for issues related to their children. It was a rise of 40% compared to 467 such calls in 2023.
“The calls were primarily about excessive mobile phone usage, social media addiction, long talks with boyfriends, a fall in academic grades due to love affairs, or threats/acts of leaving home after being scolded. In one of the recent cases, a caller from an eastern area in the city reported a suicide attempt by a teenage daughter when her phone was taken away,” said a counsellor with the Abhayam helpline.
Some other categories with a significant rise year-on-year included financial/employment issues (33%), homelessness (32%), stress (29%), custody issues (26%), and extramarital affairs (12%) among others. Overall, the calls to Abhayam from Ahmedabad increased by 12% in a year, from 40,021 in 2023 to 44,802 in 2024.