SMART SURAKSHA

She was returning home after a movie with her friend in a private bus. There were 6 people in the bus, including the driver. When the bus took off in another direction, things became suspicious. Added were nasty taunts, that were thrown at the couple. When the friend tried to intervene, he was beaten up with an iron rod. Then the woman was assaulted, dragged and raped mercilessly multiple times. Later, both the victims were thrown off from the moving bus, and the girl finally succumbed to her injuries. This is the famous Delhi rape case which shook the entire nation. How I wish Nirbhaya had 'SMART SURAKSHA' with her that day! Maybe, they would have been saved after all and didn't have to go through all the trauma. Not many days later, we had another similar incident. This time it was in Bombay/Mumbai involving a photo-journalist who was gangraped, and before that, one infamous molestation incident during News Years eve that occurred, a couple of years ago in Juhu which shamed us all. While the above cases shows that even with a ( male ) friend near, things can get dangerous, imagine the situation when a girl is completely alone. Some months back in another city Guwahati, a gal was molested by a group of boys that made headlines. She was attending a pub and after she left, she was dragged by her hairs by a group of 20 men, her clothes stripped and totally manhandled. A video of the same floated in the net, depicting the shameful incident. How I wish she had 'SMART SURAKSHA' with her that day! Maybe, then the culprits would've been nabbed on spot and not absconded like they did for months. We find such news of rape/molestation etc almost every other day. Sadly many cases hardly ever get reported at all. Sometimes such gory incidents happen within the family itself too. A girl's life is never 100% safe - be it indoors or outside. Moving out without a pepper-spray or pocket knife is unthinkable for a girl these days. And sometimes, even those defenses may fall short. I've lived in Bombay my whole adult life, and many times I have been in vulnerable situations as well. Be it in crowded trains, bus or even on roads I've encountered stray hands that tried to touch/grope unwantedly many times. Once a person purposefully dashed against me and vanished, before I could even react. Remembering them, I definitely I wish I had 'SMART SURAKSHA' with me. Even though the incidents didn't really get that nasty, it is still better to have assured security like Smart Suraksha at hand! All these reminds me of another incident that happened to my friend, a few years ago. My friend lived near National Park in Borivali as a paying guest. Angie was new in Bombay ( had come down for a job ) and didn't know the city well. Those days, that area near National Park was very deserted, as very less people resided there. There was one long lane that she had to take, to reach home. The lane had tall trees on both the sides, that made it bit eerie after dark. Being new in the area, and also being somewhat attractive, she did gain many people's attention. In fact, she had got feelers from someone in the locality hinting interest in her. But being conservative, she ignored such moves. She was only interested in her work, and for matrimony she wanted to eventually opt for a marriage alliance arranged by her parents. And moreover, the person who was after her, was from a questionable background with an equally shady reputation. He was some kinda roadside mawali-types, loitering around jobless. So, if she spotted their gang from miles away, Angie would be on an ignore mode until she crossed them, turning a deaf ear to all their teasing or sometimes even lewd remarks, often passed by the boy's buddies. One day, Angie was returning home after attending a function in her office. It was already very late, and all shops had closed down for the day. As she approached the lane, she noticed that it was totally deserted. There was not a soul around, and it was close to midnight. Bravely she walked on taking quick steps, when all of a sudden when she reached half-way, she felt her arm being grabbed from behind. She looked back and to her surprise it was Sanju, the guy who was after her. "Bohot bhav khati hai kya Chinki?" He was saying ( north-easterners are often referred to as chinkis ), "Kaunse gaaon se aayi hai? ( which village have you come from? )" She could smell the alchohol in his breath and tried desperately to remove her arm from his grasp. How dared he, she thought furiously. "Let me go," Angie said, quite shocked seeing the boy's guts in holding her arm so blatantly. "What do you want?" "You know what I want. Raju had sent the message many days ago. Jawab kyu nahi deti uska? Kitna wait karayegi? ( how long will you make me wait )." He was referring to the feeler he had sent earlier via his friend Raju, expressing his interest in Angie. "Kaun Raju? And I'm not interested. Bloody let me go," Angie was getting scared by the minute, but still tried to put on a brave face. And before she knew it, few more boys had gathered around them. They were Sanju's buddies, the ones who often teased her taking Sanju's name whenever she passed by. "Sheher aake bohot bold ho gayi hai, ( became very bold after coming to the city eh? )" one of them commented, while the others laughed. "Chal aur boldness dikha apna," Sanju said. Angie couldn't take it anymore. With her other free hand she whirled it until it landed straight on Sanju's face, in a tight slap. This angered Sanju no end, and all hell suddenly broke loose. All of a sudden, he became more aggressive. And the others joined him too. They slapped her, and tried to rip her top off and grope on her breasts and bottoms, making more racial remarks. But luckily just then, headlights of an approaching car flashed on the dark lane. The group quickly dispersed and vanished, leaving my friend quite scarred for life. Within the next few days that followed, Angie left her job and left Bombay altogether too and went back to her hometown, never to return. How I wish she had 'SMART SURAKSHA' with her that day, to give her the confidence and security that she so desperately needed.

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I am participating in the Seeking Smart Suraksha contest at Blogadda.com in association with Smart Suraksha App.
Trouble doesn’t announce its arrival! You can be attacked by anything like adverse situations or the wrong people at anytime, even in broad daylight. If you are cornered in a deserted area, your screams for help may go unnoticed. The Smart Suraksha App is an Android Application that aims at making the women feel safe. This App, at the press of a single button, sends your message of help to five pre-chosen contacts from your contact list. An additional feature of this app is that along with your message for help, it also sends across your location even if the GPS on your cellphone is switched off. Thus, the women can be reassured that there is help available at all times. Read - Tips

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