KATHMANDU: The Child Helpline Nepal 1098, provided by CWIN, has seen a spike in the number of daily calls since the lockdown began on March 24.

The helpline, that works in six districts, receives around 300 daily calls as against 200 before the lockdown, on queries about the pandemic and inquiries about child abuse, violence against children, and cases of runaway or missing children, as per Chameli Gurung, the helpline’s Warden for Kathmandu.

The callers, who are either children themselves or an adult calling on their behalf, mostly want to know the symptoms of the infection. They sometimes ask for food, and on a few occasions are made by observers to report abuse or even forced child marriage. “Whenever, there’s a call regarding vulnerable children in need of food and medical attention, we forward it to CWIN, who reach out to these locations,” adds Gurung.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 26, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.