Women safety in public spaces still remains a very troublesome issue in India. Most of the times, harassers and stalkers are emboldened by the belief they can get away with things because of the presumption that women will be afraid and keep silent. However, one woman in Kolkata showed to her harasser that women will not meekly submit to such deplorable acts.
A 23-year-old resident from BNR Hospital area in Port called out her harasser in public and made sure he was punished. The incident took place in a public bus where the accused was clicking her photographs without her consent and making her feel uncomfortable. Instead of shying away, she called him out. She challenged the man with bravery and called the emergency police number 100.
According to the Times of India, she didn’t stop there. She kept him occupied in an argument so that he wouldn’t slip away before the police arrived.
The man was clicking her pictures. When she noticed what he was doing, she got up from her seat and demanded that accused hand over his mobile phone to her so that she could delete her pictures. He made excuses that he was simply clicking selfies and wasn’t stalking her. She grabbed a hold of his phone anyway and he pushed her off to get away. Undeterred, she shouted at the man and then blocked his path, all the while using her phone to contact the police.
As the bus slowed down to pick up more passengers at BNR crossing, a West Port police patrol van witnessed the commotion inside. The alert policemen in the van quickly entered the bus and arrested the man.
The investigating officer later revealed the details to the media. The incident took place around 3 pm on January 1. The woman had boarded the bus number 227 from BNR Hospital. She noticed the accused, Jitu Singh (42), taking her photographs on his mobile phone. “When she was first objected, the accused claimed she was making a mountain out of a mole. However, when she found the accused trying to click her photograph again, she decided to directly challenge him,” the police officer said.
The man, a resident of Titagarh, had his ticket and phone nabbed by the police. The device has been sent for forensic examination.
The key part of the incident, apart from the woman’s bravery, was the van outside the bus which captured the harasser in time. According to the police, it was part of the PCR vans and Shakti vans. They were stationed on January 1 to respond to such calls on the ground immediately instead of the local police which would take longer.
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