Where women fear to tread

GUWAHATI: The brutal gang rape of a physiotherapy student in Delhi has triggered outrage from all sections of society. The one point coming out loud and clear in the furore is that women across the country, and not just in Delhi, are unsafe and are forced to battle verbal as well as assaults on their dignity and person on a daily basis.
Guwahati, which has seen a spurt in crime against women in recent times, is no exception.Eve-teasing is rampant across the length and breadth of the city, but there are certain areas and roads women dread to pass through alone. TOI spoke to women of the city and got an insight into the spots where they feel the most vulnerable and have faced sexual harassment of varying degrees.
Although women say they have been eve-teased at random places, they concede places where males gather in large numbers are where they face maximum harassment. Some of them are G S Road Post Office bus stop, Commerce College Road, Gauhati Club bus stop, Ganeshguri bus stop and Uzan Bazar.
"I was returning home from the Guwahati Club area. As it was almost 8.30 in the evening, the chances of getting a bus were pretty slim and I decided to take an auto. I was about to walk across the road when a biker came to a halt and asked me to climb on," said Pallabi Baruah, a city-based professional.
Baruah isn't the only one to have faced such an unwelcome proposition. Archana Saikia recounts a similar incident. "It was around 10.45pm on last New Year's Eve. I was waiting for a bus at the G S Road Post Office bus stop; there were some other people as well. Suddenly, this car stopped in front of me and the driver flung open the door and aked me to come in. It was traumatic for me, but I simply walked away."
The recent mob molestation of a 20-year-old girl that rocked the city occurred on G S Road. The incident shook up the city's residents and led to demands for more security for women, forcing the administration to sit up and take notice.
Such incidents not occur only on the streets. Groping and pinching are common on buses. Tanushree Phukan, a housewife, recounts how she was felt up on a bus: "I was going to visit my aunt in Hatigaon and was about to get of the bus when someone pinched me on my back. I kicked the person as I got off the bus but there was nothing else I could do. This is a regular feature in buses."
Areas where women's hostels are located are also vulnerable spots. "There is a girls' hostel behind my house and every day, drunk men sit on their bikes by the roadside, passing lewd comments and eve-teasing the boarders passing by. The boarders have for long ignored the roadside Romeos, but considering the rise in sexual crimes, this shouldn't be allowed to continue," said D Das, a resident of Uzan Bazar.
Age is not a deterrent for molesters. Even school-going girls and young teenagers are not spared. "My 16-year-old younger sister was waiting for her bus at Ganeshguri when a group of ruffians began to harass and humiliate her. Their comments were so indecent that she came home in tears," said Rajita Choudhury,.
Clearly, security for women in the city is still not watertight, as is evident from their harrowing experiences. Ensuring their safety - a task of the administration - at all times is an ordeal women live through every day. They constantly have to be on their guard on the roads, public transport, desolate as well as busy spots - practically everywhere. Yet there is little they can do to protect themselves from stalking eyes and lewd comments, nudges and groping, rape and brutality, which leave them scarred, sometimes for life.
Names changed on request.