Bangalore: The recent reported remarks of the City Police Commissioner that the police will start taking tougher steps to check harassment of women has been welcomed by women.

Be it in schools, colleges, workplaces, shopping malls or temples, women have always been subjected to humiliation by men. Lakshmi, high school student says, "I was in school, travelling in a crowded bus, I felt someone brushing against me constantly. I was too scared to plead for help, I came back home and cried till I drifted off to sleep."

For someone as young as Lakshmi, such unpleasant situations create a lasting negative impression of society.

Cases abound

Ask any woman out there. Each will have a different story to narrate about being abused — verbally, mentally or sexually. "I was walking up the road near a mall when I felt I was being stalked. Even before I realised his hand was on my mouth and I was struggling not to be pulled into a car. Thankfully a passer-by came to my rescue," says Preeti, a mediaperson.

The victims in such cases are too traumatised and hesitant to approach the police fearing probing questions.

Under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, in cases where the accused sexually harasses or outrages the modesty of a woman by way of either obscene acts or songs or by words, gestures or acts which cause annoyance, he shall be punished under Sections 294 and 509 respectively. Despite the changing times, how safe is a woman in a city like Bangalore?

The city has five all-woman police stations which deal with cases related to women, including complaints of harassment. Shakuntala S. Gowda, sub-inspector of Ulsoorgate All Women's Police Station says, "We get five to six complaints everyday but women prefer being counselled rather than file a case, because they are too scared to face the consequences."

A woman prefers to ignore such incidents or suffer silently, and those who want to be assertive are not respected. This causes emotional turmoil.

Women police officers say they act with discretion where a woman complainant is concerned, especially if the victim is a minor. They do periodically send women personnel in plain clothes to bus stands and near high schools and colleges to arrest those harassing women.

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