There have been a few instances that have made me rethink the safety of women in Mumbai.
“TThis city is as safe for women as your belongings in a bank locker!”
This comparison, made by my friends in Mumbai, was reassuring. I hail from Delhi where the word ‘safe’ and ‘woman’ cannot be used in one sentence. Yet, whenever there is a discussion on the rising crime against women in the capital city compared to Mumbai, I am usually quiet, but I wonder: how safe is this city for a woman?
When I’ve said this out aloud, I get disgusted looks followed by the statement: “If you were out in Delhi, you would have been raped by now.” At this point, I wave my white flag, ready to surrender.
Nevertheless, the fact is that there have been a few instances that have happened to my friends in the maximum city, and which have made me rethink the much-vaunted safety of women in Mumbai.
A friend of mine was travelling from Grant Road around 9pm. As soon as she sat in the cab, two men got inside her taxi from different sides. The men started touching and pulling her hair while the taxi driver sitting in front didn’t do a thing. My friend was smart; she hit one man on his crotch and bit the other man’s arm. Finding some room to escape, she quickly got out of the cab and ran.
When we heard about the incident back in our hostel, we were numb with shock even as we applauded her bravery. “This does not happen often, this must be one such incident that took place,” was the reaction from a college friend when I narrated the incident to her.
A year later, a teenager was raped in a police chowky on Marine Drive. There was a big outburst in the city. Mumbaikars were shocked at what had happened in their peaceful, women-safe city. And I wondered again: how safe is this city for a woman?
Another friend of mine was returning from Lower Parel in a cab and got down at Colaba Causeway. In a hurry, she quickly paid Rs100 and got out of the taxi. After wrapping up her work in a bakery shop, she sat inside another cab. Assembling her stuff in the cab, the previous taxi driver sat beside her with a knife.
He started abusing her and beating her, all because she had given him Rs20 less. The girl apologised to the taxi driver and was ready to pay him more. The taxi driver continued beating her and took all the money from her wallet.
The worst part was that all this was happened in the middle of a crowded street of Colaba Causeway, in front of a popular bakery shop, but nobody seems to have noticed it (or if they did, they chose not to interfere).
I’m still looking for the answer to my question. Do such incidents mean the city is safe for women? Or it time to rethink Mumbai’s safety?
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=tracking}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}