1098 or 112.

1098 is run by your state government, with a team in each district at the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU).

Also tell them if other children live there, and which number is safe to call back on.

If the person lives with the child, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), a district panel that must make sure the child is safe and cared for, decides how to keep the child safe. It must weigh what the child wants. Read more on when the person lives with the child.

If no one answers, or no one comes and the child is in danger, call 112 or go to the nearest police station. Read what happens after a report.

If you are worried about who will see the call, use a phone the person cannot check, such as a friend’s or a school phone. Under the POCSO Act, India’s law against the sexual abuse of children, a person who reports honestly cannot be sued or punished for doing so. The police and the court must keep the child’s name out of every public record.

This holds for you too. Do not post about it online or name the child, even to get help. The law protects the child’s identity from everyone, including family.

If the officer delays, or wants to make enquiries first, say that the POCSO Act requires the police to write the report down, and that refusing to record it is an offence under the same law.

The police must give you the name and phone number of the officer who takes your report, and of their supervisor. You can go to the police unit for children (the Special Juvenile Police Unit, SJPU), or any police station.

If posting to the Superintendent of Police fails too, a Magistrate, who is a judge, can order the police to investigate.

If the person has influence in your area, go to another police station or call 112. A report at another station is sent on to the police where the abuse happened, and they handle the rest. Ask them in writing to arrange the later steps near your home. Read what happens after a Zero FIR. The Child Welfare Committee in your district is another door. You can also complain to the NCPCR POCSO e-Box or your state child rights commission, as well as the police, never instead of them.

To see what comes next, read the first few days.

Do not share the images with anyone, even to get help. Report it today, and note the account name and link. 1098 can help you do it.

A threat to share a child’s pictures is abuse of a child, even when the person asks for money, so it goes to the same places: cybercrime.gov.in, the police or 1098.

You can read when a child’s photo is misused.

A school head must report abuse by staff to the police. If the person lives with the child, tell 1098 or the police, so they can plan for it.

A child can call 1098 alone. The law protects every child under 18, whatever their gender. Read the law counts boys too.

If you were abused as a child and are now an adult, you can still go to the police. For most of these offences the law sets no time limit. If you want to talk to someone first, call Tele-MANAS 14416. Read why it can come years later.