Samya Gupta writes how eve-teasing must not be trivialised and encourages people to take actions against even the slightest indecent behaviour. (Source: Samya Gupta/Facebook) Samya Gupta writes how eve-teasing must not be trivialised and encourages people to take actions against even the slightest indecent behaviour. (Source: Samya Gupta/Facebook)

Women continue to be victims of sexual harassment and eve-teasing despite increased security. Be it at the workplace or even with the seemingly safe walls of our home, it is difficult for them to let their guards down and trust anyone blindly. Something similarly terrible happened with Samya Gupta, a law student in Lucknow. She was allegedly sexually harassed by a man in December 2016 while she was travelling. She immediately filed an FIR in a nearby police station, but was appalled after many co-passengers in the bus tried to intimidate and threaten her, asking her to forgive him, because he was a father of two children.

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In a moving Facebook post, she writes how eve-teasing must not be trivialised and encourages people to take actions against even the slightest indecent behaviour one’s subjected to. So what if they apologise to you, no “audacious eve-teaser” must be let free, she emphasised.

Read her Facebook post here.

“I was sexually harassed today. Yes, harassed by man around 40 years old, while I was travelling back home in a Bus, filled with 30-35 people. While I was taking naps sitting on the second last seat of the bus, the man made inappropriate moves towards me from the seat behind me.

The moment I realized, I stood up from my seat, yelled and asked for his ID Proof, to which he obviously refused. I secured support from my co-passengers. He apologized. My co-passengers asked me to accept it, and let it go.

But I decided otherwise. I decided to not let it go. I decided to not let an audacious eve-teaser to go free merely by apologizing. And why to let it go? To allow him to make ‘apology’, a weapon, to get away? Because Eve-teasing is not that big an offence? To wait for him to convert into a rapist? Like really? EVEN A MINOR INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT TOWARDS A WOMAN WITHOUT HER CONSENT, IS ACTIONABLE.

I asked the bus driver to stop the bus on the next closest Police Station. I gained support of a couple of my Co-passengers, and I am really grateful to them.

I went to the Police Station. I gave a written complaint. The procedures I was made to abide by in the Police Station, were too not co-operative. Also, being a law student, I realized everything written in the Criminal Procedure Code is purely fictional. The accused was handed over to the Police. The FIR was lodged.

BUT. But the happenings did not really come to end. After a few distances were covered by the bus, the bus was occluded by some of accused’s acquaintances. They tried intimidating me, threatening me. Pointing on my character, they even professed that the accused is a father of two children and is therefore innocent. And even went on alleging I must be goofing around with various guys every now and then, therefore my allegations have no sense of veracity. And only because he happens to be a father of two children he shall be presumed innocent. APPLAUSE!

But, no matter what, I am and I always will be glad that I did not let it go. And every time anything of such sort happens, I will ALWAYS fight for it. Because eve-teasing is not a small offence.

P.S: DON’T WAIT FOR AN EVE-TEASER TO CONVERT INTO AN RAPIST. TAKE ACTIONS EVEN FOR THE SLIGHTIEST INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT DONE TOWARDS YOU.

#TakeActionAgainstEveTeasing #NoOffenceAgainstAWomanisSmall

#tohorrifiedtoletitgo”

Her post generated a lot of positive reactions on Facebook, most of them applauding her for taking a strong stand.

Do you think eve-teasing is trivialised? Bollywood and a lot of regional films have often romanticised the concept of eve-teasing. Do you think that has a role to play in its perpetuation? Let us know in the comments’ section below.

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