Haryana Steelers ended their Pro Kabaddi League campaign with a special message to the world. The JSW Sports-owned franchise made a statement for reasons beyond the mat at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday, when they faced Tamil Thalaivas.

In the match, they embodied the message through their shirt to promote Haryana Government and Police's initiative to diminish domestic violence faced by women in the state.

Haryana ranks high when it comes to domestic violence. And majority of those are suffered by women who get oppressed by the paternal society and face severe consequences of social taboos that are prevalent in the state. Honour killing, household violence are some of the biggest social issues Haryana face and most of the offences go unreported. Now the government is spreading awareness to curb this ongoing conundrum.

The players sported the number 1091 on the front of their jerseys, which is the helpline set up by the Haryana Government and Police exclusively for women to report domestic violence.

In a video posted on the official Haryana Steelers Instagram page, Coach Manpreet Singh spoke on the need to put a stop to the rising cases of domestic violence in Indian households.

"The issue of domestic violence against women in Indian households is a cause of worry. We have our mothers, sisters, and wife in our homes and we should treat all of them with love and respect. Violence should never take place inside our homes, to begin with," Manpreet said.

"If we first offer respect to our own mothers, sisters, wife at our homes, then only we can learn how to offer respect to other women in the society. If we are violent at home, then we are violent outside as well," he added.

The move is also a part of the Steelers' wider campaign 'Udne Do' which the team launched last year in a bid to raise awareness around violence against women, and empower the girl child.

Speaking on the special shirt the team took the mat in, Haryana Steelers' CEO, Divyanshu Singh said, "This is a subject we, at Steelers, feel about strongly, and we want to keep using every platform we get to raise awareness about it. With 'Udne Do' we want to champion a campaign that makes a telling difference, and not something that is an eyewash to make us look good. We're keen to keep building on this even in the off-season, and hopefully we can be the voice from the state that leads the cause of women and their empowerment."