Hyderabad: Days after Bengaluru mass molestation episode on New Year’s Eve revived the debate on women's safety in India's urban spaces, Hyderabad girl Triptasree Ghosh has hit headlines after penning down her experience about her brush with sexual assault in a bus.
Writing in The Logical Indian, Ghosh narrated the incident which occurred to her and her friend as they were travelling to Hampi, Karnataka in June 2016.
“In the wee hours when the bus stopped for a tea break I woke up and saw my friend was quite disturbed. When I probed, she told me she felt someone touching her back in the middle of the night. That instant when she turned to see who it was, she could catch the conductor pulling his hand back to himself,” she wrote.
Since they were not sure if the conductor was really to be blamed, they decided to let the matter rest.
But things did not end there. Their return ticket to Hyderabad was also booked with the same bus service, and by chance, had to endure the same bus and the same conductor.
“The moment my friend saw him, she felt angry and did not want to board the bus. I assured her that this time around I would sleep on the aisle side and make sure nothing happens. … As I was sleeping I felt a hand on my chest and for a second I thought it was my friend, but then I realised it wasn’t her. I grabbed this man’s hand and yelled at him. The conductor started apologising and ran towards the bus driver. I did not say a word to him after that and waited until morning,” she said.
Determined to teach their assaulter a lesson, the duo took the matter to the police men on duty at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Stand in Hyderabad. And luckily for them, the officers were willing to lend an ear to their trouble, and got hold of the conductor in time.
Ghosh ended her note saying that she did not press for the man to be charged, with consideration to his family.
“I slapped him. The officer made him apologise to us, and we eventually had to let him go,” she said, adding, “The question that still haunts me is why did this happen to us in the first place? Would it have happened if there was a guy along with us? Why are women objectified like this? Yes, I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless tee but does that give anyone the right to touch me?”
