HYDERABAD: Riding a bike might not seem like a dangerous ordeal for most. But for women riding two-wheelers in the twin cities, that isn’t the case. Yes, harassment in public spaces is commonplace no matter what mode of transport but women on scooties are easy targets. Harassing on the go also ensures that no immediate action can be taken against the perpetrators. From the usual catcalling to rogue-driving to stalking to sometimes even strange ways of calling attention, city women have seen it all.
Pranita Jonnalagadda, web writer
I was on my way home after dark once and had noticed some guy tailing me closely. After a point he asked me to stop because he had to ask me something. I was covered head to toe and also had a scarf around my head.
He stopped beside me told me that he loved my breasts and that he wanted to sleep with me. I was very taken aback but I very firmly said No and started to leave from the place. He followed me all the way till my house and he was there everyday waiting for me to come out for over a week. I didn’t tell anyone for a long time because I was afraid everybody would judge me and ask me why I had stopped or responded to him. Eventually I confided in a friend who made sure he was arrested for harassment.
Kiran Gupta (Name changed) teacher
A bizarre incident happened with me once. I don’t even know if it qualifies as harassment. Once I was driving through a deserted thoroughfare with no streetlights and was in my own world until I heard a group of rowdy boys behind me. There were six men riding triple on two bikes. I figured they spotted me and tried to speed up the road was bumpy. They flanked me on both sides as I drove and screamed at the top of their lungs. Not obscenities, not catcalls or anything in particular; just screamed until we reached the main road. My heart was racing the whole time and they made me nervous.
But I also didn’t know what I would complain about them if I did. Would I go to the police station and tell the cops that some men screamed at me? It’s easier to get away with this for such people. It gets worse during festivals, particularly Ganesh Nimarjan. The streets are filled with over-enthusiastic men high on adrenaline. These men who sit facing the traffic on the trucks carrying the idol, find it amusing to throw flowers at oncoming women. And they get away with it under the mask of revelry.
Divya Sripada, Youtuber
These men find some strange joy in following and harassing women on the street. And it is so commonplace that it doesn’t even have to happen in deserted places anymore. Once I was driving through Road No. 1 Banjara Hills towards Masab tank and three boys triple riding kept driving alongside me yelling things to catch my attention.
You know things like, “Madam number do na madam.” “Arey kya chalaray gaadi, hume bhi sikha do” “Abbah! Gussa aa gaya”. It’s almost as if they expect me to be enjoying their catcalls. I finally told them to leave me alone at the signal and they went on with their, “Arey kya madam aise bolray”. I did not want them to follow me home so I stopped to complaint to a traffic cop, so they disappeared. This is just one incident. I am not even mentioning all the times men on superbikes cut your path to scare you or screech their breaks to catch your attention, or honk just to annoy you.
Nikita Ashok, digital strategist
A friend and I were driving back home from work once from Jubilee Hills to Tarnaka. We noticed that two men had been following the same route as us all the way through Begumpet. Now, it’s a busy road and a lot of traffic goes in that direction so we did not think much of it. But when we reached the Mettuguda stretch which is a little deserted at night, these men started to ride right beside us, close enough and intending for us to be able to hear what they were saying. They asked us to go home with them that night.
These are strangers, I don’t know why in the world they thought that this would somehow work in their favour. We yelled at them and called 100 immediately and read out their number plate on the call loud enough for them to hear us and make a run for it. But the control room acted promptly and sent a patrol car to ensure we went home safely and also put out a word for the cops stationed in the junctions they were likely to be headed.
Don’t let it go