As it nears sunset in Noida, women — both students and young professionals — say they fear the autorickshaw ride home from the metro station or the last-minute grocery run to the local market.
While it may have seen large-scale development over the years, Noida has not been able to shed its ‘unsafe’ tag, especially when it comes to crimes against women.
“Noida might be an ideal place to work, but it is not the ideal place to live,” said Reema, an Agra resident who is in Noida for a summer internship at an IT firm.
Everything from stalking to lewd comments, women here say has become a daily occurrence.
Twenty-two-year-old fashion designer Alka Rao noted that she was fed up with persistent rickshaw-wallahs outside metro stations and roadside vendors who stare and say inappropriate things.
Three months working at the design company in Sector 50 and Alka said she has fallen victim to stalking and eve-teasing. Things got so bad that she had to request for a change in shift timings.
“I wish I could go back home to Rewari, where I feel safer. But, that is something I can’t afford right now,” she said with a sense of helplessness.
Most young women in Noida like Alka are tired of feeling unsafe, but there seems to be no solution in sight.
“It is going to take more than a Nirbhaya App to declare Noida safe for women,” said Ishneet Vora, a hotel management student at Amity University in Noida.
The 21-year-old said society needs to change its attitude towards women. “I live in a free country and I should not be judged by the way I dress,” she added.
A 25-year-old manager, Kripa, has been working here for a year now and her daily routine involves travelling from Gurgaon to Noida on the metro. Women should be their own guardians, she insisted.
“Self help is the best help. A can of pepper spray must be a compulsory item in ladies’ handbags,” she said.
Mobile safety apps are not for her, she noted adding her preference for stun guns or tasers.
“Maybe the government should work on reducing the cost of these.”
