It is very difficult to be a woman in our country.
From Eve-Teasing on the streets
to Online Bullying.
From Office Harassment
to Domestic Violence.
Moral policing by random people, abuses, taunts.
We can't even book a cab in peace.
Surely, there must be something that we can do about it.
Why is why today we are going to have a talk with the
Addl. Commissioner of Police, Crimes and SIT
Ms. Shikha Goel
who is going to help us answer a few pressing questions
that all of us women, want to ask the Police!
Before we begin, let me just tell you that
I am a little bit scared of the police.
Even though I've not committed any crimes, yet!
I am sure this is the fear that most of our viewers also have.
So, the first question is
How easy or difficult is it for us to
approach the Police whenever we as Indian Citizens have a problem?
First thing I would like to say is that, you need
not be afraid of the Police.
We are a People-Friendly Police.
We would want only the criminals to be afraid of us
and not the normal citizens.
As far as approaching us is concerned,
the easiest way is to dial 100.
And in Hyderabad city
our Patrol Cars reach the incident place within 5 Mins.
So, even if you don't want to step into a Police Station
there are ways to contacting Police?
Definitely there are ways to contact the Police
and I would also say that please do visit our Police Stations.
The Hyderabad Police Stations are
really nice, People-Friendly and
the experience which you will have in the Police Station
would be very pleasant, to say the least.
Moving on to the topic that every woman faces
at one point or the other and that is Eve-Teasing.
Groping at Public Places, Crowded Places.
It is so bad, that one time a friend of mine was
travelling through train
and the guy sitting on the top-birth (and by guy I mean asshole)
he took his pants down
and started going at it, looking at her
and there was nothing that she could do.
When things like these happen, you get so angry
and helpless at the same time.
So when a woman is at the receiving end of Eve-Teasing
is there something that can be done at that particular point?
Definitely.
First of all, there is an app called 'Hawk Eye' of the Hyderabad city Police.
I would suggest that every lady, every woman, every girl should download this app.
It's an extremely simple app and very user friendly.
And with this app you can get in touch with the police with just the press of a button.
And your location goes to the nearest patrol car
and within no time, the Police would be at your door step.
It also has facilities, where you have some numbers that you have Pre-Fed into it
and those numbers are also intimated if there is any issue.
And as I said earlier, dial 100 is always there.
I would also advice girls to have a little bit more courage
and also have a little bit training in Self-Defense Techniques.
In some cases, may be the Police will not register an FIR
and be like, 'Let's just give him a warning and let him go.'
Perhaps, cases like these happen.
So what can we do if the Police refuses to file an FIR?
All our Police Men have been really sensitized now
to be very proactive in this field and also ensure
that if there is a complaint, to take action.
There are a number of cases, where the complainant herself
would only want someone to be warned and let-off.
And in other instances, where it is more grave and there is a need to take Legal Action
that is taken.
Unfortunately, the reason why most women do not reach out to the Police is because
their family doesn't support it.
They believe that Family's Honor will be compromised.
Do you think that's something to worry about when you have to approach a Police Officer?
That concept needs to disappear.
The girl or a child who is a victim of a crime
or Eve-Teasing or any kind of Harassment
is not at fault.
It is the person who has done the offence is at fault.
And there is no question of any Family Honor.
We need to remember that 99% of times,
the boys who do Eve-Teasing are not hardened criminals.
They are misguided or may be
there is this image of being Macho
or may be they consider it a part of growing up.
If we don't take any action,
if we don't report, if we don't even stop them...
A number of times, just raising a voice
at that point itself, might deter the boy from
doing it again.
And if they need a Police Action, would definitely deter him.
And it will prevent things from going out of hand and
that individual trying to internalize it as something normal and
indulging in it again and again.
So it is important that we do report such crimes.
These days our preferred medium of transport is cabs.
And unfortunately, those are not safe as well.
So if you are in a cab and something like that is happening,
if you think that situation is about to go wrong,
is there a number that you can dial?
Is there a message that you can send?
Can we turn on the LIVE location and send it to someone from the Police Department?
Recently, we have launched a campaign against
harassment in public transport which involves
the RTC buses, Metro, Cabs and Autos.
Self-Vigilance is the most important.
And not to panic in situations when it happens.
Because at times, people get so panicky that they forget
how to dial a number.
So that kind of a courage you need to have in a situation.
Once you have done that bit,
be rest assured that the Police will be wherever you are in the shortest possible time.
Your go-to number is '100'.
Because of Hollywood, we know the number is '911'.
In India, we try to dial '911', but it's not.
And our Bollywood films don't promote it as much.
So the number is '100'.
So if you think something is going wrong, please dial that number.
So moving from Harassment outside to issues inside the house.
Domestic Violence.
Even today, there are girls, who are facing domestic violence.
If not physical, atleast verbal; dowry cases.
And most of the times, girls do not speak up;
they suffer in silence, because they don't want their parents to worry.
So in those cases, can the Police help?
Police is bound by law to help in all these cases.
Harassment, Domestic Violence, Dowry Cases
are registered in the Police Stations and
legal action is also taken in those cases.
So in some scenarios, may be it doesn't have to get as serious as a Legal Action.
Because, afterall it's the Husband that we are talking about.
Something that happened with my maid recently.
She didn't want her husband to be behind bars.
So what are the steps that are taken to resolve a Marital Dispute?
Whenever there is a marital issue, we first put them through Professional Counselling.
Only if the counselling fails or
if initially itself the woman insists that she wants a Legal Action and is not interested in counselling,
then we register a case, straight-away.
But there is no need to keep suffering in a relationship
just because of some Social Pressure.
Moving on from Offline Harassment to Online Harassment.
Sending obscene photos, passing lewd comments, swearing.
Humans tend to show how low they can stoop when they have anonymity online.
I know you can report that comment, you can block that person, but..
are there any specific scenarios where Police can also be involved?
As far as Online Harassment is concerned,
there are specific laws to deal with this problem.
If there is any obscenity, if there is any harassment,
any stalking, anything which is happening,
then the girls can complain.
We not only delete the offensive posts,
we also take criminal action and the person can go behind bars.
Because we can find out IP addresses from the posts and we can trace the person.
There is one thing that saddens me, is that
whenever this is a crime happening, people around it, don't report.
There was an incident recently in the newspapers where
a woman was so weak, she was just lying on the street
and there was a man who was drunk and he was raping her in broad daylight.
There was an auto-wala who recorded that incident and put it up online.
And none of the people walking around had reported it.
So is there something we can do to be vigilant citizens
so that we report the crime when it's happening
and not worry about being late to office or college?
Whenever any crime is happening infront of you,
it is your duty to inform the Police about it.
Unless and until the citizens come forward and report,
it would be very difficult.
It is essential to help the victims.
From the Police side, what I can assure
is that you would not suffer any harassment.
At times, people don't want their names to come out.
So, they will not be revealed. Their identity can be kept a secret.
And there would be no subsequent, legal formalities which
are required from your side.
We are very friendly in that manner and
we would ensure that you are not put to any trouble
if you help any victim at any point of time.
So if we see something that's happening, we just dial '100'.
Dial '100' is the best thing to do.
All these things we have discussed so far,
Eve-Teasing, Office Harassment etc
Is it just like a action-reaction case, wherein
we wait for something wrong to happen and then we report it to the Police?
Or is there something that the Police is doing to prevent it?
Because these days, Moral Policing is on the rise.
People seem to molest or attack girls just because
they are not wearing the right clothes or they are at the wrong place.
On 1st Jan 2017, in Bangalore
a group of girls who came out of the pub after celebrating New Year's Eve
they were just molested by guys for no reason
and there were 1500 Police Men on the road at that time
and they couldn't prevent that incident.
So are there any Preventive Measures being taken
by the Police to ensure that none of these things happen in the first place?
Lot of Preventive Work happens.
We are doing a lot of awareness campaigns,
we go to schools and colleges.
We are also giving Self-Defense Training to girls
so that they become a little bit more confident
while they are moving around in the city.
We have also launched an online campaign against Sexual Violence
against Women or Children on May 7th in the city.
Besides, SHE Teams move around the city in Incognito Mode for taking preventive actions.
Incognito Mode means, Police officers dressed as Civilians?
Yes, they are dressed in Mufti and move around in the city.
We have identified, 'Hot-Spots' in the city
where Eve-Teasing happens.
It's also a dynamic phenomenon.
We keep on changing the location, wherever we come to know.
We also record the incident and then reveal our identity and pick up the people.
One last question.
We all know that you have been doing great work, especially as a part of SHE Teams.
So please tell us a little bit about what Bharosa is all about
and how is it benefiting women, especially in Hyderabad?
Bharosa is a victim support center
which is established about 2 years back in the city of Hyderabad.
All victims, women and children, who are victims of crime
are the one's who are handled at the Bharosa center.
It's a holistic place where we take care of their legal requirements,
their psychological requirements, the police investigation,
the rehabilitation, the relief.
We also have a child-friendly court inaugurated in the month of April.
Here, trial of children who have been victims of crime happens in a
completely child-friendly environment.
They are not exposed to the accused at any time.
Child Sexual Abuse is a SERIOUS problem in the country.
And even bigger problem is that most of these offenses happen by people who are known to the person.
And therefore the reporting of such crimes is very limited.
We have been launching campaigns to encourage people to report such crimes.
Because unless and until they are reported,
there would be no deterrents and people would be encouraged to indulge in them again and again.
It's a very serious offense.
It's one of those offenses, wherein if you know a child has been suffering and you don't report
action can be taken against the person for not reporting also.
Thank you so much for keeping Hyderabad safe for us
and for making time for this video.
It was a pleasure.
Before we leave, what is that one message you want to give
as a woman, to all the woman watching..
What are the precautions that we need to take
as Indian Women, to be safe?
I would only say that the girls need to be confident.
You should be well-educated, financially independent,
have the courage to face the world and remember that
any crime that happens, is not your fault
and you need to get over this feeling of guilt
and also be assured that if there is a crime, you can
always report it, action would be taken
and we would help you come out of it and lead your life normally in future.
So that was Ms. Shikha Goel for you.
If you want to reach out to her or SHE Teams, you can dial these numbers
or reach out to them through their website.
All of their links are mentioned in the description.
As you know, The Urban Fight is a Health and Fitness YouTube Channel
but we believe that before achieving physical fitness, it is important to be mentally sorted first.
But as we just discussed,
if you are a woman, achieving that peace of mind is difficult.
So incase there is something bothering you or if you are stressed about something, please
Speak UP!
Reach out for help, to your family, to your friends
because YOU are important
and so is your health.