Mangalore students run for women’s safety

Students take part in 'Nirbhaya Run' to mark International Women's Day

March 10, 2014 01:23 pm | Updated May 19, 2016 07:33 am IST - MANGALORE:

Students of NIT-K, Surathkal, participating in ‘Run Nirbhaya’ at MangalaStadium in Mangalore on Sunday. Photo: H. S. Manjunath

Students of NIT-K, Surathkal, participating in ‘Run Nirbhaya’ at MangalaStadium in Mangalore on Sunday. Photo: H. S. Manjunath

Women want security, not special treatment, said some of the students who ran a marathon in the city on Sunday in the memory of ‘Nirbhaya’ to mark International Women's Day (celebrated on March 8). They said women are confident and did not seek preferential treatment.

They were speaking after running ‘Nirbhaya Run’, a 6 km-marathon organised by NIT-K MBA in association with Centre for Integrated Learning, Youthania.com, a youth portal and Gunashree Cashews, to mark Women’s Day, here on Sunday.

Anamika Joshi, a second year student of M. Tech in NIT-K, speaking after the marathon, said women had no use for the reservations the government was giving them.

She said, “We don’t want it. We are good enough on our own.” Men and women are different and they complement each other. She said, “Don’t torture us physically and mentally because we are physically different.”

Purnima Korram, from the same batch, said if women accept privileges, some men conclude that women win because they get privileges.

Some of girl students were surprised that so many boys had participated in the event, especially as they had to get up at 5 a.m. and travel to Mangala Stadium from Surathkal and then participate in the marathon. Purnima Korram, also from the same batch, said, “I am amazed to see the number of boys here.”

Ravi Jatav and N. B. Singh Lodhi from the same batch, said they had practised before they participated in the event. Muquit Ur Rehman, also a student from the same institution, said he and his friends had participated in the run not for the sake of the run but for “the cause”.

Akshith Shetty, from MBA, NITK, and student coordinator for the event, said 700 students took part in the marathon.

The event was flagged off by Vandana Shanbhag, former Olympic athlete.

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