A bus ride in the national capital of India turned horrific for a 26-year-old journalist when a co-passenger came near her and started fondling himself. According to an NDTV report, the accused continued with his disgusting behaviour even when she shouted at him and the fellow passengers also failed to come to her aid, as reported by ANI. However, she bravely confronted the accused and thrashed him before he was handed over to the police.
“No one on the bus helped me even when I was beating him. I had to do everything on my own,” she said.
Disgusting and shameful
The 26-year-old was travelling from Kapashera to her residence in Sangam Vihar on Tuesday night when this incident took place. Reportedly, it was a cluster bus on route 517 and the bus was full of passengers as it was only around 9 pm.
According to the victim, she was sitting on a seat reserved for women when a stranger sidled close and started staring at her and began fondling himself. While she tried to stare back in defiance, the man allegedly unzipped and took out his member as a response. Alarmed by this behaviour, she shouted and cried out but to our collective shame, she failed to get the crowd’s attention. She then herself confronted the man, beat him with slippers, restrained him inside the bus and called the police.
The woman said, “The bus was full but no one helped me even restrain the man. One man wanted me to stop hitting him. There was just one passenger who tried to help me, but later refused to be a witness,” reported The Hindustan Times.
Reportedly, the deputy commissioner of police (south) said that the man has been identified as Mukesh Ranjan Kumar who works for a tent operator and he has been arrested and booked following the complaint.
Disturbing trend
Less than two months ago, a 19-year-old student jumped out of a moving DTC bus after she was allegedly harassed. Sharing her ordeal, she had claimed that route 544 is infamous for repeated incidents of flashing, groping and molestation. The increasing number of reports of women facing harassment as a matter of course in public places led the Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) to take suo moto cognisance of the same. Reportedly, DCW asked the Delhi police and the transport department to ensure the safety of women by installing CCTVs and deploying marshalls in the buses.
In February, another Delhi Univerity student faced a similar ordeal when a middle-aged man sat next to her on a bus and masturbated. If the criteria are widened to include all public places, there are several more reports from 2018 alone.
The Logical Indian Take
The underlying disturbing reality we need to face as a society is that we are failing to make both public and private spaces safe for women. Incidents of flashing, groping or molestation continue unabated.
Are the police to be blamed?
Well, take this incident for example. When the incident was reported, the police arrested the man. However, installing CCTV cameras in all public transport and deploying marshalls will aid the process of justice undoubtedly while acting as a deterrent to such criminals. Even so, it is unreasonable to expect that a police officer will be personally assigned to each and every one of us for our safety. Hence, on one hand, we need to spread awareness about safety measures, self-protection training and police helpline numbers while ensuring that we also proactively behave like responsible human beings. No one wants to get implicated or involved in someone else’s problems but surely one would feel differently if the person undergoing the ordeal is one’s mother, sister or wife.
Also, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to confront one’s harasser, and The Logical Indian community applauds the brave young woman for not backing down.
Also Read: Delhi College Student Jumps Off A DTC Bus To Avoid Harassment, DCW To Probe
