AAP govt had promised to illuminate all dark spots and install CCTV cameras at public places
Shweta Sharma (name changed), a 27-year-old marketing executive who works in South Delhi felt something unusual as she stepped out of a cafe after meeting her friends. A young guy in his 20s was following her. The distance between the cafe and the area she had to reach was barely 400 metres but that 6-7 minute walk for her is unforgettable.
“I felt uncomfortable. The sound of the steps walking towards me was daunting. While walking, he came so close that I could feel his face behind my head. I started moving fast so as to reach my car. It was horrifying,” recalls Sharma.
This is not an isolated case. Women in the city are increasingly feeling unsafe in all the public spaces — be it bus stops, subways, outside Metro stations, buses, marketplaces, or even in parks. Many of them believe that some public spaces are inaccessible to them, the reasons -- harassment, social perceptions and presence of men.
Almost every woman commuter in the city has her own share of horrifying experiences. Isolated stretches, unlit streets and drunken auto-drivers and rickshaw pullers make it more difficult for a woman to survive in the Capital.
For 26-year-old wedding choreographer, Naina who boarded an app-based taxi for a drop to the airport at 4 am saw the driver doing an obscene act while she was in the car. “I did not utter a single word as I feared the consequences. Also, I had to catch a flight. I later complained to the company,” she said.
The national Capital has around 1,500 dark spots, a number that has been on the rise. While the police claimed that dark stretches are counted even if one of the street light on the road is not working, the ground reality, however, is that there are many stretches, roads, areas where no lights function.
When DNA carried out a ground reality check, it was found that there were stretches even in South Delhi that continue to be dark. Although the main roads are lit and have police presence but what lacks is patrolling in the bylanes.
The state of affairs was worse at the Delhi University’s Bonta Park where no police officer or a guard could be seen. The students spotted outside the park informed that while it is the most beautiful place in the daytime but during the night, there is no place scarier than this.
“People just rob you. You will see drug addicts around. There are so many dark stretches here that anything can be done to with not just a woman but a man as well,” said a student.
After the Nirbhaya incident in December 2012, the Delhi Police had conducted a survey of all the dark spots in the city that are prone to crimes.
INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE DELHI POLICE FOR WOMEN SAFETY
- A 24-hour helpline 1091 is set up to reach out to women in distress
- All calls made by women complaining about stalking and obscene calls are diverted to a special anti-stalking group
- Himmat SOS app provides immediate police assistance
- Exclusive help desks for women in all police stations
- No police official is allowed to delay response because of jurisdictional issues
- Special commissioner for women safety working as nodal officer
- Five police control vans manned by all women staff
- Thana-level women safety committees to oversee the issue of women safety
DEADLY STRETCHES
North East 267
Rohini 130
East 262
New Delhi 34
South East 274
South 162
West 171
South West 92
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