I LIVE at Ravi Road and recently had an interaction with police helpline at 15. Recently in my area there was a religious gathering right next to our house. The hosts used multiple speakers and the noise level was excruciatingly high. The whole thing went on till midnight.

I made a complaint at 15 about it. Although the police forwarded my complaint to the police station of our area and they did get in touch with me over the phone, nothing happened beyond that.

I made numerous calls to 15 and subsequently received several calls from the policemen posted in our area. They assured me that they were at the exact location and those using loudspeakers would soon be asked to stop it.

Later, while calling me several times, the policemen told me that people having the religious gathering had permission from the government office concerned to have it till 1am, and they could do nothing in this regard. However, it kept going till 4am. I waited patiently as I could not do anything more. I wonder if the police force at 15 is so helpless in controlling such a trivial matter, how it can control serious crimes.

Maryam Darakshan
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2021