It was last year that S. Swathi, a 24-year-old software engineer, was brutally hacked to death at the Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu by a man in full public view. Could the public have been more than just bystanders in this case, or several other cases, and come to the aid of women in distress?
‘A billion eyes - For a safer Bengaluru’ intends to address the importance of bystander intervention and the need for citizens to understand and actively help in such situations. The B.PAC initiative was launched on Friday in association with the Bengaluru City Police and is supported by Australian Aid and United Way Bengaluru.
Under the initiative, apart from introducing multimedia campaigns to have more people take the pledge to ‘not look away, not to remain silent, to see, hear and act, and create a safe Bengaluru’, 10 wards will be adopted to be developed as ‘model safe wards’. Safety audits covering lighting, footpaths and visibility will be conducted.
Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar, who launched the initiative, suggested integrating Namma Metro also into the scheme.
Malini Krishnamurthy, Additional Commissioner of Police (Bengaluru West), stressed on the need for citizens to use services available to them, such as Namma 100 and the Suraksha App. “We also need some mechanical eyes — CCTV cameras. As of now, there are just about 1,000 of them for the entire city. Citizens should be vigilant. And bystanders should not be afraid of getting involved,” she said.
Wards to be adopted
Gayathrinagar
Govindarajanagar
H.S.R. Layout
Koramangala
Nandini Layout
Pulakeshinagar
Ramamurthy Nagar
Sampangiramanagar
Sanjaynagar
Women drivers for Pink Hoysalas soon
They are pink and meant to cater exclusively to women, and soon, may be driven by women as well. Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar said some women constables had expressed interest in getting behind the wheels of the Pink Hoysalas and are taking driving lessons. “Once they become eligible to drive, they will be allowed to drive the Pink Hoysalas,” he added.
Separate buses for garment workers?
While on the topic of women safety initiatives, the BMTC is thinking about introducing separate buses for garment factory workers. BMTC Chairman M. Nagaraju Yadav also proposes to give them special, subsidised passes, similar to the ones given to students.
New initiative, old rhetoric
Though the event was aimed at women safety and empowerment, old rhetoric kept its date. Bharathi Shankar Chairperson, Karnataka State Women Development Corporation, said, “No rapes happen during jaatres . But they happen in unwanted parties. As citizens, we should be careful and not hesitate to go to the police.”
