On 16 September 2016, a minor scuffle between two groups in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district erupted into a communal clash. The scuffle had an eve-teasing incident at its core.
While the jury was out to debate whether it was a Hindu or Muslim girl who got harassed, we, at The Quint, decided to investigate the street safety of women in Bijnor. We wanted to understand how rampant is the harassment, and how comfortable are women in commuting to their schools and colleges.
Bijnor, a district in Uttar Pradesh lies 150 kilometres off India's national capital, Delhi.
Girls told us that they regularly get inappropriately touched, molested in public transport, as they commute to and from their school or college.
In their defense, the boys claim that they're not solely responsible for the incidents, and a girl's smile may be taken as a ‘yes'.
Clearly, with such frequent incidents, the girls have lost their faith in justice, and blame the police for their inaction.
And then there was the notion of a woman's respect being directly proportional to her family's dignity.
Though the concern is genuine for girls' safety, it has resulted into another hurdle for her. Her education is being compromised.
Catch the full investigation on The Quint. Coming soon.
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