Thrice within this year, 45-year-old Lalita Sharma was confronted by motorcycle-borne snatchers near her house in Jahangirpuri. The first two incidents left Ms. Sharma quite shaken.
But she stood up to her snatchers the third time; even tried to counter-attack them. After the third snatching incident, Ms. Sharma told The Hindu, she felt the need to learn to protect herself.
It was around that time that she came across a newspaper advertisement for the Delhi police’s Women’s Safety Initiative — Sashakti, a yearly self-defence training programme for women.
“The 10-day self-defence training helped me gain self-confidence to fight back. I’m a homemaker so I don’t get time to work on myself. This programme helped me get back in shape and put me on a healthy diet,” Ms. Sharma said.
Just like Ms. Sharma, many women homemakers, students and working professionals said the Delhi police’s Sashakti programme helped them learn useful self-defence skills and gain confidence.
Around 11,000 students registered for the martial arts training programme conducted last month by the Special Police Unit for Women & Children (SPUWAC) at Dwarka, Gujranwala Town III, Dilshad Garden, Pushp Vihar, and Shalimar Bagh, after a gap of two years owing to the pandemic.
Rozanne Khan, a 19-year-old student from Old Delhi, says she joined the 10-day programme at Shalimar Bagh, as in her experience the police in the Walled city were not very prompt in answering distress calls.
“You can imagine how helpless a woman feels till the police arrive. Sometimes, the situation is such that waiting for the police is not an option. We are forced to take the matter in our own hands,” Ms. Khan said.
Preeti Aneja, a 46-year-old homemaker, who also joined Sashakti, said it was important for women to defend themselves as they could be caught in a difficult situation at any time.
“We keep reading and hearing news about the kind of crimes that happen in the city. It helps to be equipped with skills to defend oneself. Self-defence training ought to be mandatory for girls,” Ms. Aneja said.
She hoped that the city’s schools would also inculcate self-defence as a habit among their students.
“Both my daughters have got training in self-defence. I feel it not only helps to boost one’s confidence but also helps one help other women,” Ms.Aneja said.
Many trainers also feel that self-defence training is much more effective if the training is imparted at a young age.
Bharti Sijwali, who has been training students in Pushp Vihar for more than four years, said it was absolutely essential for women to know the basics of self-defence.
“During the 10-day camp, we made sure that the students learn a mix of Judo, Taekwondo, and Karate. They were taught how to tackle sudden unwarranted situations in public places or public transport,” she said.
“We also teach students how to use their bags, dupattas, pen, water bottle, and umbrellas as weapons to keep themselves safe,” Ms. Sijwali added.
At Shalimar Bagh, another trainer, Anshu Rathi, emphasised the importance of saying ‘No’.
“We teach every trainee practising self-defence how to challenge, refuse and remain tough in difficult situations,” she said.
The DCP (PRO) Suman Nalwa said, “We understand the stigma around the police. Hence, we’re trying to look at these situations from the victim’s point of view. Our team takes every complaint seriously — whether it pertains to harassment, robbery, snatching or eve-teasing.
Besides self-defence techniques, the participants at the camp also received training in cyber security, various laws and ways to tackle crimes, and effective communication with the police.
Outlining the objective of the programme, Ms. Nalwa said, “Sashakti is our community outreach programme. We do not expect women to fight crime. We are teaching them how to safeguard themselves till the police help arrives. Women should be aware of their ability to fight back.”
