KOLKATA: The Mumbai-based TV show anchor who fought off her molester near Howrah Station on Monday as a crowd of gawkers “watched the fun”, recounted the night of horror to TOI. She and her friend decided not to conceal their identities because they had not committed any offence, but in keeping with a Supreme Court directive, we are withholding their names.

I have been living in Mumbai for few years now but Kolkata holds a special place in my heart. I would proudly tell my friends how warm people were back home. But Monday night’s incident has left me ashamed of my city. Kolkata has failed me.

Where did all the warmth disappear when two women were being harassed by a gang of hooligans blocks away from Howrah station? A sea of men had gathered around, but not a single one came forward to help us. My 71-year-old father was assaulted because he tried to protect us. They brutally beat up our friend Subarata Ghosh for challenging them. I shudder to think how heartless the city has become.

My father, who lived in Mumbai till now, wanted to return to Kolkata. So I came to help him settle down. The two of us reached Howrah station early on Monday. We did not head straight to our flat in south Kolkata as we needed to do some shopping. We checked into a hotel near the station because my friends live in Howrah.

We shopped through the day and visited City Centre II as I wanted to take my father for a movie. By the time we reached near our hotel it was 11.30 pm. Three of us waited in the car as Subrata went to pick up some food when this man (identified as Ratan Sahu) appeared. He started harassing us. My friend was attacked because she dared to challenge the man and then he turned on my father. I was wearing I high heels, so I took them off and hit the man. By this time seven to eight men had joined the attacker. They were drunk and used the choicest of abuses. “Yeh dodno ko rape karke phenk bhi dega toh kissi ko pata bhi nahi chalega ,” I heard them say. Subarata came running back and he, too, was not spared.Though I still love my city I would never be able to boast to my friends about how safe Kolkata is. Even as I read about increasing incidents of sexual assault on women in Kolkata, I would tell my friends were not so bad as they were made out to be. I was zealously protective about a city that seems to have stopped protecting its women.

My profession back in Mumbai involves irregular work hours. But I can travel back home at late hours without any fear. But in Kolkata a woman is not safe even at 11.30 pm? Why is that men make it so difficult for women? I guess it is lack of education and moral values.

But staying back home because of the predators is not a solution. We need to be bold and fight back so that men are deterred. And, the administration should ensure that women are safe in the city. I would request the chief minister to take some initiative. Being a woman herself I am sure she should understand what we go through when we are targeted.

I would be gone in a few days. But I am worried about my friend. She has been brave enough to face the whole fight with me. But after I am gone she would have to face it alone.

My city has let me down. I would be going back with a lot of bitterness and pain in the heart. I would not be cowed down by the incident. But it would take a long time for me to come to terms with the horrible incident.

(As told to Sumati Yengkhom)