Tele distress alarm device Nirbhaya launched

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) on Friday launched Nirbhaya, a tele distress alarm device.

The device has been named in memory of the victim of the December 16, 2012 , gang-rape in New Delhi. The incident had seen thousands take to the streets, demanding adequate security for women and stricter anti-rape laws.

BARC director C  K Pithawa said once activated, the device could send SMSes to five chosen contacts about the user’s location through the mobile. It could primarily aid women in distress situations such as an attack or a medical emergency. “The SMS alert has a pre-formatted user defined message and GPS coordinates (location) of the device. It will continue to send the latest GPS location every minute to the five programmed phone numbers. It is paired with users’ cell phones through bluetooth.”

Pithawa said the light, compact device was easy to carry, adding it couldn’t be tampered with.

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman R K Sinha said BARC had prepared a prototype of the device within three weeks of the December 16 incident and demonstrated it at a conference on January 7.

ECIL Chairman P Sudhakar said the GPS-based device was priced at Rs 3,000. He added efforts would be made to reduce the price when production rose. The device could be functional on any mobile phone and it would be manufactured and marketed by ECIL, he said.