An Indian woman facing domestic violence, sexual assault, threats, stalking, confinement or another immediate danger in Azerbaijan should call police at 102 or the general emergency service at 112.
Azerbaijan also operates specialised support lines for women and girls. The 860 helpline provides information and legal or psychological counselling relating to gender-based and domestic violence. A separate 24-hour Women’s Helpline at 116111 can provide crisis support and direct women toward medical services, legal clinics, rehabilitation centres, shelters and other social-support organisations.
The Embassy of India in Baku can provide consular assistance to an Indian woman in genuine distress, including communication with family, information about local authorities, passport help and consideration of limited welfare assistance in eligible cases.
Quick answer: If there is immediate danger, call 102 or 112 and move to a safe public place if possible. For gender-based violence counselling, call 860 from Baku or 012 860 from a mobile or another region. The 24/7 Women’s Helpline is 116111. Indian nationals can contact the Embassy’s emergency call/WhatsApp number at +994 51 207 1621.
Emergency and women’s support numbers
| Service | Contact |
|---|---|
| Azerbaijan Police | 102 |
| General emergency and rescue | 112 |
| Ambulance | 103 |
| Gender-based violence helpline from Baku | 860 |
| Gender-based violence helpline from mobile/regions | 012 860 |
| 24/7 Women’s Helpline | 116111 |
| Women’s Helpline mobile | +994 50 680 22 80 |
| Women’s Helpline mobile | +994 51 580 22 80 |
| Indian Embassy emergency call/WhatsApp | +994 51 207 1621 |
The numbers serve different purposes:
- 102/112: Immediate danger and emergency response
- 860: Gender-based or domestic-violence information and free legal or psychological counselling
- 116111: Round-the-clock women’s crisis and social-support guidance, including referral toward shelters and services
- Indian Embassy: Consular assistance for Indian nationals
A counselling helpline is not a substitute for police during an active attack.
When to call police immediately
Call 102 or 112 when:
- Violence is occurring
- A weapon is present
- The woman is locked inside
- The attacker threatens to kill or seriously harm her
- A child is in danger
- The woman is being followed
- Someone is trying to force her into a vehicle
- She has been sexually assaulted
- Her passport and phone have been taken to prevent escape
- She is injured
- She is being threatened with forced marriage or trafficking
- The abuser is trying to enter her safe location
- She believes returning home will expose her to immediate danger
Do not wait for family approval, an Embassy appointment or documentary proof before calling emergency services.
What to say during the emergency call
Provide:
- Your name
- Exact location
- Apartment, hotel or building number
- Floor and entrance
- Callback number
- Nature of the threat
- Whether the attacker is present
- Whether a weapon is present
- Whether anyone is injured
- Number and ages of children
- Language assistance required
- Safe way for police to contact you
A simple statement is:
“I am an Indian woman in immediate danger. I need police. I am at [complete address]. The person threatening me is [present/not present]. Please send help.”
If speaking may increase danger, use a safe opportunity to call or ask a trusted person, hotel reception, neighbour or shop employee to contact police.
Immediate safety plan
If it is safe to leave:
- Move to a police station, hotel reception, hospital, airport, busy shop or another secure public location.
- Take children when this can be done without creating greater danger.
- Carry passport, phone, medicines, money and essential documents if immediately accessible.
- Do not delay escape to pack non-essential belongings.
- Tell one trusted person where you are.
- Disable location sharing that the abuser controls.
- Use transport the abuser cannot track.
- Do not disclose the safe location to mutual contacts without considering the risk.
- Contact police and the women’s helpline.
- Contact the Indian Embassy after immediate safety has been arranged.
Do not confront the abuser about the escape plan in advance.
If it is not safe to leave immediately
Try to:
- Move away from kitchens, weapons and balconies.
- Stay near an exit.
- Avoid rooms that can be locked from outside.
- Keep a charged phone accessible.
- Establish a code word with a trusted person.
- Memorise emergency numbers.
- Keep shoes and essential medicine nearby.
- Identify neighbours who can call police.
- Teach children how to call 102 or 112 when age-appropriate.
- Avoid physically intervening through a child.
- Leave when the safest opportunity appears.
Safety plans must fit the circumstances. An action that is safe in one case may increase danger in another.
Use a safe phone or device
An abusive partner may monitor:
- Call history
- Browser history
- Shared cloud accounts
- Find My or Google location sharing
- Family-tracking applications
- Ride-booking history
- Bank alerts
- WhatsApp linked devices
- Hotel bookings
- Smartwatch location
- Vehicle tracking
When possible, use:
- A trusted person’s phone
- Hotel reception phone
- Police phone
- Hospital phone
- A new email account created on a safe device
Before deleting history or changing passwords, consider whether the change could alert the abuser and increase immediate risk. A helpline or specialist can help create a safer digital plan.
Azerbaijan’s 860 gender-based violence helpline
The State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs states that victims of gender-based violence—particularly women and girls—can contact:
- 860 from Baku
- 012 860 from mobile numbers and other regions
The helpline provides information about gender-based and domestic violence and can provide free legal and psychological counselling where needed.
When calling, explain:
- Whether there is immediate danger
- Whether police have been contacted
- Whether safe accommodation is required
- Whether children are involved
- Whether medical treatment is needed
- Whether the woman has her passport
- Language requirements
- Immigration status
- Whether a lawyer or psychological counsellor is needed
Azerbaijan’s 24-hour Women’s Helpline
The State Committee also publishes a 24/7 Women’s Helpline at:
- 116111
- +994 50 680 22 80
- +994 51 580 22 80
- +994 51 880 11 80
- +994 51 880 22 80
The service is intended for women and girls facing physical or psychological violence, crisis or socially dangerous living conditions.
According to the official announcement, its professionals can provide psychological, emotional and social support and direct applicants toward:
- Medical services
- Legal services
- Social assistance
- Legal clinics
- Rehabilitation centres
- Shelters
- NGOs providing legal counselling
- Relevant government and local institutions
A shelter place should be confirmed through the helpline or competent authority. Do not travel to an address found on an old unofficial directory without checking availability and admission requirements.
Domestic violence is not limited to physical assault
Domestic or intimate-partner abuse may include:
- Hitting, pushing or choking
- Sexual violence
- Threats
- Forced isolation
- Monitoring the phone
- Preventing contact with family
- Taking salary or bank cards
- Controlling all money
- Destroying documents
- Confiscating the passport
- Preventing medical care
- Locking the woman inside
- Threatening children
- Stalking
- Publishing private photographs
- Forcing unpaid work
- Threatening deportation
- Using immigration status as control
- Forcing marriage or pregnancy decisions
A woman does not need visible injuries before seeking help.
How to make a police complaint
Give police a clear chronological account:
- Relationship to the accused person
- Date and location of each incident
- Most recent threat or assault
- Injuries
- Weapons
- Witnesses
- Children present
- Messages and recordings
- Prior complaints
- Passport or phone confiscation
- Financial control
- Threats to family in India
- Current location of the accused person
- Immediate safety concerns
Ask for:
- Complaint or case number
- Police unit handling the case
- Officer’s details
- Interpreter
- Copy or acknowledgement of the complaint
- Information about medical examination
- Available protective measures
- Procedure for retrieving documents
- Referral to support services
- Information about legal representation
Do not sign a statement you cannot understand. Request translation or an interpreter.
Preserve evidence safely
Possible evidence includes:
- Threatening messages
- Emails
- Call logs
- Voice notes
- Photographs of injuries
- Medical reports
- Torn or blood-stained clothing
- Damaged property
- CCTV locations
- Witness contacts
- Police complaints
- Hotel records
- Bank statements
- Passport copies
- Location history
- Diary of incidents
- Social-media threats
- Evidence of money or documents being withheld
Store copies in a secure account or send them to a trusted person. Do not keep the only copy on a device controlled by the abuser.
Evidence is useful, but personal safety is more important than collecting another photograph or recording.
Medical help after physical assault
Call 103 or go to a hospital for:
- Head injury
- Loss of consciousness
- Choking or strangulation
- Breathing difficulty
- Chest or abdominal injury
- Heavy bleeding
- Pregnancy-related concern
- Suspected fracture
- Severe pain
- Drugging or poisoning
- Sexual assault
- Suicidal thoughts
Tell the doctor that the injuries resulted from violence and ask for this to be recorded in the medical documentation.
Request:
- Clinical findings
- Diagnosis
- Treatment record
- Prescriptions
- Test reports
- Photographs taken under medical procedure
- Discharge summary
- Itemised invoice
- English documents where available
Strangulation can cause serious internal injury even when external marks are limited. Seek urgent medical assessment.
What to do after sexual assault
The survivor’s immediate safety and medical care come first.
When possible:
- Reach a safe location.
- Call police at 102.
- Obtain urgent medical care.
- Request an interpreter.
- Tell medical staff that a sexual assault occurred.
- Ask about forensic examination, emergency contraception, infection prevention and psychological support.
- Preserve clothing and relevant evidence when possible.
- Avoid deleting messages or location records.
- Contact a trusted person.
- Contact the women’s helpline and Indian Embassy.
If possible, avoid washing, changing clothes or cleaning the incident location until medical and police guidance is received. However, having washed or changed clothes does not mean the survivor cannot report the assault or obtain medical care.
Do not delay necessary treatment because evidence may have been altered.
Pregnancy and reproductive health
After sexual violence, ask a qualified doctor about:
- Pregnancy testing
- Emergency contraception
- Sexually transmitted infection testing
- HIV post-exposure prophylaxis
- Hepatitis assessment
- Injury examination
- Follow-up testing
- Trauma counselling
Some treatments are time-sensitive. Seek medical care as soon as possible.
Passport confiscated by spouse, partner or employer
An Indian passport belongs to the passport holder and should not be retained as a tool of control.
If someone refuses to return it:
- Ask police for assistance.
- Mention the passport specifically in the complaint.
- Provide a passport copy or number.
- Tell the Indian Embassy.
- Do not attempt a dangerous confrontation.
- Preserve messages showing refusal to return it.
- Ask whether retrieval can be conducted through police or legal process.
If the passport cannot be recovered, police and Embassy procedures for a lost or unavailable passport may become relevant.
Read Lost Indian passport in Azerbaijan – police report and Embassy help.
Immigration status controlled by the abuser
A woman may be told that:
- Reporting violence will automatically cause deportation.
- She cannot leave without her spouse.
- Her residence permit has already been cancelled.
- Police will arrest her for asking for help.
- The Embassy cannot assist her.
- She must surrender her passport.
Do not rely on these claims.
Contact Azerbaijan’s State Migration Service and the Indian Embassy to verify:
- Visa or residence status
- Permit expiry
- Whether a cancellation decision exists
- Address registration
- Departure requirements
- Effect of separation from a sponsor
- Options to regularise or safely exit
Domestic-violence assistance and immigration status are related but distinct issues.
Safe accommodation or shelter
Tell police, the Women’s Helpline and Embassy when it is unsafe to return home.
Explain:
- Whether the abuser knows the present location
- Whether children need accommodation
- Accessibility or medical needs
- Whether identity documents are available
- Whether the woman has money
- Whether the abuser has access to her phone
- Whether a longer-term arrangement is required
- Whether immigration status creates a problem
Shelters may have:
- Security and confidentiality rules
- Admission assessment
- Limits on visitors
- Rules concerning children
- Restricted disclosure of location
- Maximum stay periods
- Referral requirements
Do not post a shelter’s location publicly.
Emergency bag checklist
If it can be prepared safely, include:
- Passport and visa copies
- Residence card
- Children’s documents
- Phone and charger
- Medicines
- Prescriptions
- Bank cards
- Emergency cash
- House and vehicle keys
- Clothing
- Police and medical records
- Important telephone numbers
- Marriage and birth certificates
- Evidence stored on a secure drive
- Insurance details
- Travel ticket
- Essential child-care items
Keep the bag somewhere the abuser cannot access when possible.
Children in danger
Call police immediately if a child faces violence, abduction, confinement or another immediate risk.
Provide:
- Child’s name and age
- Passport details
- Current location
- Person controlling the child
- Custody documents
- Medical needs
- Threats made
- School or childcare information
- Recent photograph
- Whether international travel may occur
Do not attempt to remove a child across an international border without understanding the legal and custody implications. Seek police, Embassy and qualified legal assistance.
Cyberstalking and image-based abuse
Preserve:
- Threatening accounts
- Profile links
- Usernames
- Full URLs
- Screenshots showing date and time
- Messages demanding money
- Threats to publish intimate images
- Login alerts
- Impersonation profiles
Then:
- Report the matter to police.
- Secure email and cloud accounts.
- Review linked devices.
- Change passwords from a safe device.
- Enable two-factor authentication.
- Tell trusted contacts not to share location.
- Report abusive content through the platform.
- Do not pay a blackmailer.
Blocking an account without preserving evidence first may make identification harder.
If the abuser monitors money
From a safe device:
- Contact the bank.
- Block stolen or controlled cards.
- Change banking passwords.
- Review authorised devices.
- Disable unwanted UPI access.
- Check mandates and recurring payments.
- Create transaction alerts.
- Protect email and SIM access.
- Keep official complaint numbers.
Do not make a financial change that is likely to trigger immediate violence without considering a safety plan.
Legal assistance in Azerbaijan
A qualified Azerbaijani lawyer may help with:
- Domestic-violence proceedings
- Protective measures
- Criminal complaint
- Divorce
- Child custody
- Passport recovery
- Immigration status
- Financial claims
- Housing
- Employer abuse
- Court representation
The Women’s Helpline may direct callers to legal clinics or organisations. The Indian Embassy may provide a list of local lawyers but does not act as private counsel or guarantee a lawyer’s services.
Verify fees and scope in writing.
How the Indian Embassy can help
Depending on the case, the Embassy may:
- Communicate with Azerbaijani authorities
- Check the welfare of an Indian national
- Help inform family in India
- Provide consular guidance
- Assist with passport or Emergency Certificate procedures
- Provide a list of local lawyers
- Help connect the woman with relevant local services
- Support communication during detention or hospitalisation
- Register a consular grievance
- Consider ICWF assistance in eligible distress cases
Indian Community Welfare Fund assistance
The Embassy’s Indian Community Welfare Fund guidance states that ICWF is intended to assist overseas Indian nationals during distress and emergencies in the most deserving cases on a means-tested basis.
Assistance is not automatic. Eligibility, urgency, available alternatives, documentation and Embassy assessment may be considered.
A woman seeking help should explain:
- Nature of the danger
- Current safe location
- Police complaint
- Financial position
- Passport status
- Family support available
- Children involved
- Medical needs
- Accommodation required
- Travel plans
- Exact assistance requested
Do not assume ICWF will pay every hotel, legal, medical or airline expense.
What the Indian Embassy cannot do
The Embassy cannot:
- Replace Azerbaijan Police
- Arrest the accused person
- Issue a protective order under Azerbaijani law
- Decide divorce or custody
- Remove a child without lawful authority
- Force a spouse to provide money
- Guarantee shelter admission
- Act as a private lawyer
- Cancel Azerbaijani immigration proceedings
- Pay every personal expense
- Guarantee immediate repatriation
- Resolve a criminal case privately
Indian Embassy Baku contact details
Emergency call/WhatsApp: +994 51 207 1621
Telephone: +994 12 564 6344 / +994 12 564 6354
Consular email: cons.baku@mea.gov.in
Address: 6A, Olimpia Street, Narimanov District, Baku, Azerbaijan
Verify current details on the official Embassy contact page.
For broader emergency procedures, read Indian Embassy Baku emergency contact and assistance.
Information to send the Embassy
Provide:
- Full name
- Passport number
- Date of birth
- Azerbaijani address
- Safe callback number
- Current safe location
- Nature of danger
- Police complaint number
- Accused person’s relationship
- Whether children are involved
- Medical condition
- Passport status
- Immigration status
- Family contact in India
- Assistance requested
- Safe time and method to respond
Clearly state if email, WhatsApp or telephone communication may be monitored.
Family members in India: what to do
Family should:
- Listen without blaming the woman.
- Ask whether she is in immediate danger.
- Call the Embassy when she cannot safely do so.
- Keep her location confidential.
- Preserve messages and evidence.
- Avoid confronting the accused person.
- Do not reveal an escape plan.
- Arrange emergency funds through a safe channel.
- Designate one family contact.
- Register a MADAD grievance when appropriate.
Statements such as “adjust,” “do not involve police” or “return to the same house for now” may increase danger.
MADAD portal
An Indian woman or family member can register a consular grievance through the Government of India’s MADAD portal and track the case.
Include:
- Embassy contact history
- Police complaint
- Passport details
- Current risk
- Children involved
- Medical information
- Assistance requested
For the full process, see MADAD portal complaint from Azerbaijan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the police number for women in danger in Azerbaijan?
Call 102 for police. Call 112 for a general emergency or coordinated rescue response.
What is Azerbaijan’s domestic-violence helpline?
Call 860 from Baku or 012 860 from a mobile or another region for gender-based or domestic-violence information and legal or psychological counselling.
Is there a 24-hour women’s helpline in Azerbaijan?
Yes. The State Committee publishes 116111 as a 24/7 Women’s Helpline and lists additional mobile numbers.
Can the helpline arrange a shelter?
The Women’s Helpline can assess the situation and direct women toward shelters, rehabilitation centres, legal clinics and support organisations. Placement depends on current availability and assessment.
Can an Indian woman report her husband to Azerbaijan Police?
Yes. Marriage does not prevent a woman from seeking police help for violence, threats, confinement or other alleged offences.
What if the husband or employer has taken her passport?
Report it to police and the Indian Embassy. Do not risk a violent confrontation to retrieve it.
Can the Embassy provide accommodation?
The Embassy may assist with referrals and consider support under applicable ICWF guidelines in eligible, means-tested distress cases. Accommodation is not guaranteed automatically.
Will the Embassy pay for a flight to India?
Not automatically. Emergency welfare assistance depends on eligibility, distress, available alternatives and Embassy assessment.
What if the woman’s visa has expired?
Contact the State Migration Service and Embassy. An immigration violation should be resolved separately, but the woman should still seek police and emergency help when facing violence.
Should a sexual-assault survivor wash before examination?
When possible, preserving clothing and avoiding washing may help forensic evidence. However, if she has washed or changed clothes, she should still report and obtain medical care immediately.
Can the woman take her children to India?
International travel with children may involve passport, visa, custody and parental-consent issues. Obtain qualified legal and consular advice before crossing the border.
Can the Embassy keep her location secret?
The Embassy will consider safety and privacy, but disclosure obligations can depend on law and circumstances. Clearly state that revealing the location may create danger.
Final advice
For an Indian woman facing danger in Azerbaijan:
- Call 102 or 112.
- Move to a safe location if possible.
- Call 860 or the 24/7 Women’s Helpline at 116111.
- Obtain medical care after injury or sexual assault.
- Preserve evidence without risking safety.
- Request an interpreter before signing documents.
- Contact the Indian Embassy.
- Verify immigration and passport status.
- Seek qualified legal help.
- Keep the safe location and escape plan confidential.
Violence does not become acceptable because it occurs within marriage, employment or a shared home. Immediate safety is the first priority; legal, immigration and financial issues can then be addressed with the appropriate authorities.
Information checked: 27 August 2026.
Disclaimer: This article provides general emergency and consular information, not Azerbaijani legal or medical advice. In an immediate threat, contact Azerbaijan Police or emergency services. Helpline services, shelter availability and legal procedures may change.
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