BHOPAL: When it comes to safety of women, Bhopal fares as one of the worst cities in the country with 133 rape cases and 322 assaults reported in 2015 as per NCRB report of 2016. Even after the report, there has not been any change on the ground as the administration never takes the issue seriously. Three women from the city faced incidents which shook them from inside but they did not give up. The authorities have nothing to say on this. Sandhya Mishra of Mahila Thana only said a clichéd, “Women need to be more alert.”
Smita Sharma, 57, a social activist, faced burglary thrice at her house in Anand Vihar. The incidents have scared her so much that she now lives with her relatives and uses multiple locks to protect her house.
But she hasn’t given up. She is now installing CCTV cameras and central locking system for her house to live in. She says, “The incident happened in January. The police arrested the thieves and recovered my items from them but they are not returning my things to me, which include a laptop, a watch, my wallet and my phone. There are many like me who live alone in the city. It was when the thief was trying to strangulate me that I realised the fear. Before that I kept fighting with him. The problem is that the authorities do not want to act on it properly. When pressure is built on them they act for the moment and soon forget about it.”
Anvita Singh, 30, was traveling to her home from 10 number stop when two bikers touched her inappropriately at the Railway Over Bridge crossing. When she protested their move, they took umbrage and when the signal went green, they followed her and stopped her on the road when there were no commuters. Sensing fear Anvita shouted loudly, which grabbed the attention of the vehicles coming from behind and they stopped. The bikers immediately fled the spot. Anvita did not complain about it but says, “The problem is with the mindset and not the area. The over bridge is crowded enough and even then, those boys had the guts to tease me. I shouted at the top of my voice because I got scared and it was my sudden instinct, which saved me.”
Shikha Sharma boarded an auto from Board Office to her house in New Market. After a few minutes, the auto rickshaw driver started talking to her and within minutes started talking uneasy things to her.
“He started asking me what was my rate for a night and if I am a bad girl and all filthy things. I asked him to stop the auto but he didn’t. Instead he increased the speed. It was dangerous to jump out of the vehicle. I saw a Dial 100 car on the other side of the road and shouted loudly. Fortunately, they heard me and followed the auto and stopped him. I was shivering with fear. The police said he was drunk and asked me to go home while they tackled the driver. Since, this incident I make sure that I don’t take any auto rickshaw and have started using cabs instead. I suggest everyone to have some safety tools and pepper sprays while traveling here. There is no time or place for such acts. The incident happened to me at 5 in the evening,” she said.
