Why are men having all the fun? Girls fear to tread many Bhopal areas at night and dawn too

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): Girls can roam around boldly after sunset in many places, including the New Market in the state capital. Yet, there are still many places in the city where the girls fear to tread, especially at night or at dawn. A few college girls told Free Press that places like Bishankhedi, Kerwa Dam Road, Manuabhan Tekri, VIP Road, Lake View (Upper Lake), and Old Bhopal are a few places where girls are concerned about their safety and security during night hours. Most of these places are known for their nightlife, but mostly men are seen there. They however yearn to enjoy the nightlife as well as the sunrise in the city as their male counterparts do."These places are crowded, yet we feel unsafe going there at night alone," said the youth girls. Many girls even said they couldn’t go to ManuabhanTekri or Kerwa Dam to see the sun rise or set alone because creepy men start staring and because it is isolated at those hours.

I too, like my male friends, want to visit cafes near Kerwa Dam but it can’t due to safety concerns. Priyanshi

"There are many beautiful cafes near Kerwa Dam, but I can’t go there as the area is deserted. There is no commute facility there, even in the daytime, and finding it at night is impossible. I live near Kerwa Dam in a hostel, and still I ask male friends to accompany me when I go to any café there after 8 p.m.

When I go alone near VIP road boys, they start passing comments; they even start following you: Vanya Dubey

"As a girl, you can’t even go for a run or walk after 8 p.m.VIP Road is always crowded, but if you go there alone without any male companions, boys on bikes will pass comments on you; they even start following you. It is very unsafe at night."

A random man flashed his private parts to me when I was at Upper Lake at night: Alfi Hussain

"My friend and I were near Lake View (Upper Lake) around 10:30 p.m. when a random guy came and tried to stand very close to us. When we felt that it was intentional, we walked away. Then he flashed his private parts to us. After that incident, we never went to Upper Lake without any male member at night."

 We hid behind a car so that the guys chasing us don’t know where we live: Hiba Javed -

"I went for an evening walk to VIP Road with my cousin once, and on our way back we noticed some guys following us on their scooter. When we were heading home, they started following us, and we got scared and walked even faster. We didn’t want them to know where we live, so we hid behind a car until they were gone."