India makes panic key a must for all mobiles

All mobile phones sold in India will have to have a panic button from the start of next year, an official said yesterday, as the country grapples with large numbers of sex crimes against women.

The button would allow users to call emergency services by pressing a single key on their phone, a telecommunications ministry official told AFP. "No cell phones can be sold without the provision for panic button from January 1, 2017," he said, requesting anonymity.

The ministry said it was also making inbuilt GPS compulsory from January 1, 2018.

The latest official figures show 36,735 rapes were reported across the country in 2014, although activists say the actual number is likely much higher with many crimes going unreported due to the social stigma they attract.