That’s the message these gutsy students will give romeos hanging out at railway stations and roadsides, in a bid to combat eve-teasing in the city
There is a fresh warning for eve teasers and streetside Romeos. Come September and they are likely to see gutsy college students at railway stations across the city spreading a strong message: “Chedega toh chodega nahin”. As part of their Bachelor of Mass Media curriculum, these South Indian Education Society (SIES) students are on a mission to deal with one of the most common problems women across the world face.
Ask SIES student Shweta Iyer, a member of this project who is working along with teammates Nikhilesh Pillay, Kavita Natrajan and Lavira Fernandes. Not the kind who will keep silent, Shweta says it was personal experiences that led them to choose a topic like eve teasing. “Most girls are victims of eve-teasing. However, many of them choose not to raise their voice against it. One of the primary reasons is that they do not know how to deal with it or whom to approach,” she says.
While researching for their project, the students stumbled upon the 103 helpline number introduced by the Mumbai Police and sensing the need for exploring more on the topic, they decided to approach the Mumbai Police. “Upon interaction with police officials at the Azad Maidan Police station, we realised that there was not much awareness about the helpline. We were given valuable inputs by the police, for example that it is important to keep contact numbers of police stations near your house and work place, handy,” says Kavita. They were also handed over pamphlets on the 103 helpline.
Geared with information and zeal, the students are now looking to print pamphlets about the campaign that will contain phone numbers of all the police stations in the city and distribute them at railway stations. Their awareness campaign will also include putting up hoardings to publicise the helplines. “We are looking for sponsors who could help us in our endeavour. We are already in talks with an NGO. As part of the project, we also plan to organise street plays at various city colleges and are in talks with some professional actors,” Kavita adds.