Published on 03:02 PM, November 21, 2021

Bachao: App to prevent sexual assault and rape

Photo: Bachao.Life Foundation

As citizens of this country, we all have the responsibility to help prevent rape. It is only when we will unite that will be able to put a stop to this heinous act which destroys the lives of countless females. Enough has been said and it is high time to start acting. The Bachao app is an excellent initiative to fulfil this purpose. We should all contribute by registering as volunteer so that if the time comes, we can save someone from something horrible.
The Bachao App was created to help prevent rape, a crime that remains to be constantly on the rise.
"A personal event motivated me to create the Bachao App. My sister's marriage ended in brutal assault and rape. My mother could never accept this brutality, even till the day she died. On her death bed, she asked me how I can utilise the fact of being a successful computer engineer to save helpless women like my sister. This one question prompted me to start the Bachao project the very night she passed away," said Jalal Mirza, Chief Executive Officer, Bachao.Life Foundation.
Bachao uses GPS technology and relies a lot on registered volunteers. Anyone can become a volunteer after downloading the app. Someone feeling in danger can press the 'Rape Alert' red button and be able to see all nearby volunteers in a live GPS map.
"The volunteers can see the victim in live GPS map, distance and direction to reach the victim. The victim and the volunteers can communicate via messaging and audio call. If the victim is not safe in 20 minutes from the time of alert, the nearby police is alerted with incident data including the victim's exact location and phone number," described Jalal. Once safe, the victim can press the 'Safe Now' green button.
Bachao was launched on 2 October, 2021. It is a free app that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. It can also be downloaded via Bachao.Life Foundation's website (Bachao.com.bd) and Facebook page (facebook.com/BachaoFoundation).
Bachao.Life Foundation, a non-profit social organisation, developed the Bacaho app. The foundation is registered with the Govt. of Bangladesh and its mission is to reduce the number of cases of sexual assault in Bangladesh.
Jalal added, "We plan to release a new version of the app in November 2021, that includes a simple SMS interface for rural users who do not have smartphone or do not have computing literacy. We have contacted the BTRC for a short code so that the mass people can simply send an SMS to use the app and the system."

You can visit https://youtube.com/bachaofoundation to see how the app works.