- 2 hours ago
In an India Today reality check titled 'Delhi Through Her Eyes' on To The Point, anchor Preeti Choudhry and five female journalists investigate street harassment and women's safety across the national capital. Following recent sexual assault incidents, including the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in south Delhi's Aastha Kunj Park, reporters conducted on-ground assessments across locations including Hauz Khas Village, Connaught Place, AIIMS, Lady Shri Ram College, Kailash Colony Park, and West Delhi. Journalists documented on camera instances of ogling, tailgating, flashing, stalking, and drivers repeatedly stopping to offer unsolicited rides. The report highlights infrastructure lapses, including dark public stretches and missing CCTV cameras. Comparing present-day ground reality with footage from 2012, the panel examines pervasive street harassment and societal victim-blaming. Following the incidents, Delhi University students assembled at the YMCA auditorium, submitting a charter of demands to the Prime Minister's Office and warning of demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:21four miners raped in 12 days
00:28four reporters highlight Delhi's capital
00:31shape women take to streets raise their
00:41voices posters up anger out on the
00:47streets the question how safe is Delhi
00:54for India Today reporters four parts of
00:58Delhi different locations different men
01:02but the same underlying behavior for
01:08stories one sobering reality Delhi through
01:14her eyes India today reality check
01:29not every threat speaks some simply watch
01:34and sometimes the watching is the story at
01:42the entrance of the horse cars village a
01:44man sat watching women pass by he turns
01:50his head almost 180 degrees as they pass
01:53not moving not speaking just waiting for
01:57the next woman to enter his field of
02:00vision no attempt to hide it no fear of
02:05being seen because perhaps this behavior
02:08has become so normal that even being
02:11caught watching no longer feels embarrassing
02:16then we went to a Hanuman temple four or
02:19five men sitting near the entrance a
02:23middle-aged woman walks in she prays she
02:26bends down before leaving one man's gaze
02:33follows her not her face her body faith
02:38asks a woman to bow why should that
02:41become an opportunity for someone else to
02:44stare and then we saw something else it
02:50was not one man looking at one woman
02:54sometimes it becomes a group activity one
02:58notices another alerts the other and
03:02suddenly a woman becomes a subject of
03:05collective entertainment the most
03:09uncomfortable part for me was not one
03:11particular stare it is how routine it
03:13looked men sitting around a woman
03:15passing by a look a nudge a man turning
03:19his head around nobody even thinks they
03:21are doing anything wrong and that is
03:23perhaps the most uncomfortable question
03:25here when did making women feel
03:27uncomfortable become so normal that we
03:30don't even question it anymore
03:34and then cannot place the heart of the
03:37capital bright crowded public safe at
03:43least on paper but watch closely some
03:48things are difficult to explain because
03:51there is no single moment you can
03:55pinpoint to and say this is the crime it
04:01is the accumulation
04:15then we went south Lajpitnagar Ames and
04:21here the numbers began to speak
04:37Kartiki stood at one spot near the Ames area
04:40for roughly an hour in that time seven to
04:44eight vehicles stopped within an hour
04:55most offered to drop her somewhere some
04:58hesitated but several came back even
05:01after being rejected and then came the
05:04line caught on camera
05:24a woman standing alone on a public road a
05:28stranger deciding that her presence is an
05:32opening within that hour nearly eight
05:35vehicle stopped and was shrewd away but
05:38two or three of them returned thereafter
05:39and asked milengi if the staring and
05:43ogling wasn't enough by these men what I
05:46experienced tonight on the road as a
05:49woman in this country was far more
05:51disturbing traumatizing would be an
05:53understatement and I am simply standing
05:58on a roadside and mind you this is a
06:00running road and this is what happened
06:03with me
06:26move west
06:28Patel Nagar
06:31Keeerthi Nagar
06:38Rajori Garden
06:44Janak Puri
06:57Kilak Ragar
07:04Jessica found something deceptively
07:07ordinary men stopping watching following
07:13waiting at Patel Nagar and Kirti Nagar
07:18people repeatedly stopped bikes and cars
07:22simply to stare at a Rajori garden bus stop bike stopped for no apparent reason
07:36In Janak Puri near happy model school a car appeared to follow Jessica for some distance
07:58the man did not approach instead he got out lit a cigarette and repeatedly looked toward her
08:07nothing happened and that is precisely the point because for a woman on the street nothing happened does not always
08:16mean nothing happened
08:22near Bharti college dark stretches poor lighting a woman walking alone and in Tilak Nagar a man walked extremely close
08:39to Jessica appearing to try to touch her while passing
08:48We've been in and around the streets of Delhi especially West Delhi to find out if it's really safe for
08:54women to step out and let me tell you we found a lot of dark spots in Delhi near colleges
08:59schools and a lot of public spaces at bus stops we found men stopping and staring at us and in
09:06various other public spaces the experiences were pretty similar. So the question really is if these people are not going
09:12to be able to do it.
09:12These streets are safe enough for women.
09:21The time was 7.30. Normal time usual time time when most of the women actually leave their workplace to
09:28go back home and I was standing at a place where there were many people going by there were many
09:33cars going by.
09:34But one conversation actually turned everything for me. There was a person who came to me and repeatedly asked me
09:42if I wanted to get dropped off somewhere.
09:44Now this was not a secluded street and it was not very late in the night. This one conversation which
09:50should rather have been a simple conversation became a nightmare for me.
10:16What was scary for me was the fact that when I repeatedly said no to the person who had approached
10:21me, it was supposed to be a simple conversation.
10:24And a very stern no. But that was something which did not happen. He came back again, tried to approach
10:31me not once but thrice.
10:33And that is when this simple conversation was not simple anymore. It was extremely uncomfortable and borderline dangerous for me.
10:46Four places, four reports, but the problem does not end there.
10:56It has been normalised so much that it is just normal.
11:03I think it is normal for 90% of the girls now.
11:07It's like a constant fear for me and I think other girls as well.
11:26The system has been so much marginalised that we at this place are thinking that India can do what I
11:33can do now. We just move on with this.
11:37That should not be a bold statement. A woman should not need courage to walk home. She should not have
11:47to change her clothes, her route, her timing or her life.
11:52Because safety is not just about what happens after a crime.
11:57It is about everything that happens before it. The stares, the following, the comments, the fear.
12:12These may look like small moments, but put together, they change how women live in their own city.
12:21This is not just about four locations. This is a capital shame.
12:28No, no, thank you.
12:29Delhi, through her eyes. India Today, reality check.
12:38Well, welcome to you as you're watching To The Point. I'm Preeti Chaudhary.
12:41What you saw were my five colleagues and friends at work who pieced together what is normalisation of fear.
12:48Where self-regulatory behaviour, hyper-vigilance has become very normal for girls who step out in the national capital and
12:57across various cities where India is concerned.
13:00This is very normal for most women stepping out, being stalked, constantly monitoring yourselves, sharing your location.
13:07All the time, this is all normal and it's accepted.
13:10I just want to cut across right now to all my four or rather my five colleagues who have been
13:16out over the course of the last one week.
13:18Some of them covering protests which have raged on ever since the rape, the gang rape in the national capital
13:24of a 17-year-old.
13:26And four of them who over the course of the last couple of days have gone out just recording on
13:32their cameras raw footage of what it is to be a girl in the national capital.
13:39Aishwarya Paliwal, my colleague is with me.
13:41Jessica Goyal, Kartiki Aroda, Shreya Chatterjee and Shreya Kundu.
13:47There is this unsaid language that women usually share with each other, where they understand when they are under threat,
13:56when they look at each other.
13:58It's just unsaid and they communicate with each other where fear is concerned.
14:02I just want to ask our producers to pull out and actually show all five of us.
14:07We didn't quite plan it. Each one of us walked into the studio and we're all wearing black.
14:11And what was interesting is that each one of us looked at each other and laughed and said,
14:15you know, maybe this is in protest of how women are treated in the national capital.
14:20So no, we didn't quite plan it.
14:21I just want to begin and let's begin right now with Shreya Kundu because Shreya filed the report after the
14:29gang rape of the 17 year old in the Aastha Kunj Park,
14:33which has now sparked a massive protest in Delhi University where women have banded together and they've said enough is
14:40enough.
14:40Will enough be enough is a question, but this is the report that Shreya filed and then we'll cut across
14:44to all my colleagues.
14:48We are currently at the Aastha Kunj Park.
14:52This was the next stop for the duo, the 17 year old girl and her friend on her birthday after
14:58they had visited the Kalkaji Temple.
15:00This is very close to the Mandir itself, just a few hundred meters away.
15:07And if we speak of where the encounter took place at LSR, right outside the LSR back gate,
15:12then this location is roughly a few kilometers away from that very place, about five to seven kilometers if we
15:20are to look at it.
15:21Now, the bigger problem here when we came here and checked it out, well, it's daytime.
15:26So you can see there's lush green trees around.
15:28There are a lot of people even now after this incident has taken place.
15:34So all of that has not stopped. The footfall here has not really reduced.
15:39But the problem here comes about what residents have in fact flagged is in the evening, right after sunset,
15:48when the entire park as I'm standing here, viewers, I cannot spot a single street light anywhere around in this
15:58very vicinity of the park itself.
15:59And this, mind you, is a majorly big park covering a massive area.
16:05So for a park of this kind with such dense green trees all around with very poor lighting,
16:13that comes out to be the number one concern that's been flagged.
16:17Now, this is a DDA-maintained park that we are speaking of.
16:21The second thing, looking around right from the gate, we couldn't figure out a single placement of a CCTV camera.
16:29And even the ones that are there, the locals have come out to complain that these CCTV cameras most of
16:36the times are not working.
16:37So there is very little to no surveillance that takes place in this very park.
16:43That is number two, the problem that's been flagged.
16:45If you go check on Google Maps, the park is reportedly to be shut by 7pm.
16:51But this duo, they had visited the park way after 7pm.
16:55Why? Because this park in fact remains open till much after 7pm.
17:02There is no surveillance of when the park gates are shut.
17:06And there are several gates.
17:07Given the area that this park covers, there are several gates on different ends that are present.
17:13None of them, in fact, that remain shut.
17:16So these are some of the basic concerns that should be monitored by the MCD, by the police, by the
17:22DDA,
17:23who in fact take care of this park.
17:25But that's clearly lacking in the grossest possible manner at this given point.
17:32And this comes out to be a very big concern because it is a residential locality
17:36where this park is situated with footfall, as we mentioned, quite high.
17:40And yet after sunset, you will see this park takes a very different shape.
17:46And that is what the reality is at this given point.
17:50On that note, this is Sriya Kundu with camera person, Alok Das, for India Today.
17:57All right, I want to just now cut across to all my colleagues, one by one,
18:01where they recount on what they saw.
18:03And for any girl who's watching this, this is normal, this is regular.
18:06There is chronic anxiety.
18:08You're pretty much plotting your path to where you need to go,
18:11constantly looking over your shoulder.
18:13All of this is normal, regular, if you are in the national capital,
18:18and I would reckon anywhere in the country where women in this country are concerned.
18:22I want to bring in Kartiki.
18:24Kartiki, where were you?
18:26I was at Ames.
18:27You were at Ames.
18:28And what really happened?
18:29We saw what really happened.
18:30But it's bizarre.
18:31How many cars stopped?
18:34I think it was more than ten.
18:36And the onlookers, passers-by were more like,
18:40people came and stopped by.
18:41And there were at least thirteen vehicles, I would say.
18:48And the thing is, when I went there, I stood there, nobody was around.
18:53But within minutes, within seconds, people started coming, stopping their vehicles.
18:59And I was approached by them.
19:01It's like, towards the end of my experiment, I was feeling like,
19:05all of these vehicles are now kind of competing with each other.
19:10Like, which vehicle will I get into after this?
19:13It's like, it was so scary.
19:15It was so, I was so trembling.
19:17I was trembling when this person of my father's age,
19:21he approached and asked me from the car that,
19:25that moment just shook me.
19:28It's like, even after that, my camera person asked me,
19:31what did you just witness?
19:33And I told him that,
19:35this is not the first time I witnessed this.
19:37This is the first time it was recorded on camera.
19:40No, that's what I'm saying.
19:40It's quite normal.
19:41So, Kartiki, when you travel by public transport,
19:43and you and I both know when you're sitting, waiting for an auto,
19:45waiting for your cab to pull in,
19:47this happens quite regularly, right?
19:49Yeah, even cab drivers came and stopped when I asked me to drop somewhere.
19:54And I asked one person,
19:55why did you stop and you don't have the right?
19:58Show me your app.
19:59Why are you asking random person who is standing on the roadside that,
20:02come, I'll drop you?
20:03Like, why?
20:04Why?
20:04I mean, can't I just simply exist on the roadside?
20:07Why do they feel entitled that they should come and ask any woman
20:12who is standing, existing on the roadside, waiting for somebody,
20:16or just standing there alone?
20:18Why do they feel entitled that they have right to ask these women
20:21if they want a drop?
20:23Because it's a subconsciously understood concept that public spaces inherently belong to men.
20:28And why is a woman standing there?
20:29If she's standing there, then possibly she's easy game.
20:32And if she's not, let's in any case give it a shot if she is.
20:36Jessica, where were you and what happened?
20:38Can you recount how many hours did you spend?
20:39I believe you were in West Delhi.
20:40Yeah, so I was in West Delhi and when we were carrying out this experiment,
20:45we actually all chose a time which was in the middle of the day, the evening time,
20:50because the Aasta Kunj rape also happened at 7pm,
20:53which is a very normal time for anybody to step out.
20:56And this was at that time when I was in West Delhi.
20:58I was at bus stops.
21:01I was around the metros.
21:03I was near a college, Bharti College, which is right there.
21:06I was in fact near a school also where, of course, you are constantly watching your back.
21:12And as a woman walking alone on the street in the night, it's even more scary because these cars come...
21:18This is not even the night.
21:19Not that you shouldn't be safe at night or if you're out at night, you're asking for it, but continue.
21:23This is not at night, it's about 7.30pm.
21:25Yes, this is 7.30pm.
21:27And when we started, it was 5.30pm.
21:30So the first car which actually stopped by was, again, of an old man.
21:35And I don't know what his intention was really and he never approached me,
21:39but I think he understood that maybe there was a camera behind us or something like that.
21:44He never approached us, but there were so many cars and then there were so many bikes
21:47which were stopping by.
21:48So there's this constant anxiety that you have, oh, what should I do now?
21:53Should I not walk from here?
21:55Should I go on a well-lit street?
21:56But there are no well-lit streets also because I was at a stretch near the college area
22:02and it was completely dark there.
22:04And that was when we realized that the car was actually following me
22:08because when I was walking and the camera person was following us,
22:11so I was walking and another car then started following me.
22:14And so I decided to stand there for a while to see if the car was actually following me
22:18or if it just wanted to pass me by.
22:21But then I stopped and the car stopped ahead of me.
22:24The guy got out of the car. He went and he bought a cigarette.
22:27He came back and he was doing it all so very freely.
22:31Meanwhile, I was standing here so scared that, oh, now he's like passing me by.
22:35Now he's going back again. He got out of his car.
22:37He lit the cigarette. He stood there. He stood staring at me.
22:41And it was all so very normal for him.
22:43Whereas here I was standing scared and looking at my phone constantly.
22:46Now what should I do if this was not a social experiment?
22:49Now I knew that there was somebody, you know, watching and looking at me.
22:53But if this was happening and this is what happens in reality as well.
22:58It's like an everyday normal life for us.
23:00We all had actually, after we reached home, we all dropped each other messages that, yeah, we reached safely.
23:05Something that comes so normally to us, we don't even have to think about it twice.
23:09But second skin, the minute you get into the car, you know, I share my location with my husband.
23:13That's what you do. You immediately, you know, that's what you do.
23:17But the reason, you know, why we are emphasizing on this, Jessica, is it's not that it hasn't happened before.
23:24Like Kartiki very well put it, it's happened so many times before.
23:28It's possibly the first time that it's, for her, it was recorded.
23:31So it's happened with you before.
23:32Yes, definitely. Definitely.
23:34Attempts to maybe touch you when you're getting off the metro or getting on a bus.
23:39Similar thing happened here as well. In fact, we were recording on camera.
23:42So there was no need for someone to actually pass me.
23:45It's an open road and it's an open street.
23:48But that person, like, you know, attempted to touch me or my ass or something.
23:53I don't know what he was trying to do there really.
23:55But it makes you feel so uncomfortable.
23:56And when it happens in a public space, you don't really know what to do.
24:00If you go into sort of a shell, you won't actually raise your voice every time when something like this
24:06happens to you in front of so many people.
24:08You don't really know what your first response should be.
24:11I mean, we're not trained to think about these situations in such a way.
24:15Of course, now it's so normalized that we do think, oh, if we're always very careful stepping out that we're
24:21holding our bags close to us or, you know, we are maintaining distance when we're walking in public spaces.
24:26But this is not a natural instinct that we're at least taught from a very early on in childhood.
24:32But I'm sure that all of our experiences do teach us this in some ways.
24:36Aishwarya, what was your experience? Where were you?
24:40You know, Preeti, before telling my experience, I would like to show you something because this is exactly what I
24:45was wearing the other day.
24:46So you can barely see my hands.
24:49Not that it matters.
24:50But you know, most of the times we have heard, why did she go out late? Why was she wearing
24:56those clothes?
24:57What was she drinking? Was she drinking from an open cup?
24:59Yeah, so I think all of us were very decently, decently I'm using the word, very decently dressed and in
25:05places which were public places.
25:07None of us were standing in a secluded spot where, you know, you could not have the light or something
25:11like that.
25:12So if I'm wearing this and I want to step out, I think I should be able to.
25:16But you should be wearing whatever you want to wear and you should be able to step out.
25:20You know, that's, I would think the premise.
25:22Yeah, that's the, I think the ideal world, the euphoric world that we all think of, but that is not
25:29the case.
25:30So I was wearing exactly this, covered, you know, barely hand showing, a little bit of my feet maybe, but
25:35nothing more than that.
25:36So that, you know, I don't want someone to turn around and say, oh, she was wearing that, that is
25:40why something happened.
25:41We all have seen the film and there is one dialogue from that film where Mr Bachchan comes and he
25:46says, no means no.
25:49I think, you know, you need to use a drill and then drill it in people's mind saying that, you
25:54know, no means no.
25:56So when this car approached me, we asked me something.
25:59You were in Moochand LSR.
26:00I was near LSR, yes.
26:01I was near LSR, yes.
26:01That's the same area where that 17 year old was gang raped and then which, the area which saw multiple
26:07protests from LSR girls because they feel very unsafe in the back alleys or even the main road of that
26:12area.
26:13Go ahead.
26:14You know, Preeti, there are close to 1700 PGs.
26:17Yeah.
26:17So you can imagine how many girls stay there.
26:20So this, this car comes and you know, people say that when something like this happened, your brain freezes.
26:26It is a reality.
26:27I want to put it out there.
26:29Yes, your brain freezes.
26:30You know, even though I knew that my camera person was barely a few meters away from me, but the
26:35instant reaction is, even though, you know, at the back of your mind, you know that, yes, there is someone,
26:40but your instant reaction is fear.
26:41It is fear that grips you and then your brain takes good 10 seconds to respond.
26:46So the moment this car came and he said, you know, do you want to get dropped off somewhere?
26:51I said no.
26:52So this was the first no, very clear no.
26:54Then he said, are you looking for company?
26:57I said no.
26:58So this was the second no.
26:59Then he said, I am a nice guy.
27:01If you want, I can drop you somewhere.
27:03So this was the third no.
27:04Like, I mean, how many times do I need to say no, no, no?
27:07Three times.
27:07I said no.
27:08And then he drives off barely 50 meters, takes a reverse, comes back to the spot where I was standing
27:15and it was a well lit spot.
27:16And then says, are you sure?
27:18I mean, what do you mean by are you sure?
27:20But I've said no three times.
27:21So this actually shows you the persistence of men.
27:26And it's not just that.
27:27It's the gaze, Preeti.
27:28It's that disgusting, ugly gaze like, you know, we will drop you till your house.
27:33No, I don't want your eyes to be following me to drop me to my house.
27:36I can reach my house safely.
27:38You know, the male gaze is something which Shreya tried to record through her camera.
27:43And Shreya, you were in Oscars.
27:45I was in Oscars.
27:46And your attempt was just to, you know, this is something which, you know, it gives you goosebumps.
27:50But I think any woman, any woman knows exactly what went down there, what went down.
27:55Constantly being followed, constantly being stared at, where you know where that gaze is resting on what part of your
28:03body.
28:04Yeah, I mean, actually, that was the whole point.
28:07I really wanted to capture male gaze because I think that is where it starts.
28:10We've normalized it so much that we almost always wait for a perfect victim of a woman crime,
28:16be it a perfect victim for rape, perfect victim for molestation.
28:19But for me, I feel for all of us, it starts at the male gaze.
28:24When did we make it so, I mean, normal that we don't even question it?
28:28And look at the kind of images that I captured.
28:31Outside a Hanuman Mandir, a group of men just standing, a woman, she's not even safe in her faith.
28:38I mean, this is something the society needs to rethink now.
28:41And I mean, Freeti, you know, you have been covering for so long years.
28:45During Nirbhaya, we protested about this.
28:47I was in college when I protested about this.
28:49Today, I have a six-month-old daughter and I'm still asking the same question.
28:53When did we normalize this that we don't even want to think that, no, you can't just look at me
28:57like that.
28:58You can't just look at a woman, make her feel uncomfortable and everyone around them.
29:03You know, there needs to be a course correction from inside our houses,
29:07where we make random remarks normal, random jokes normal.
29:12We're talking about a woman where we say,
29:14we need to cross and end this because it starts there.
29:18It doesn't need to wait for a perfect rape victim for us to come out and outrage.
29:22It needs to stop where that casual joke or that casual remark is made about a woman.
29:27No, I tend to agree.
29:30And I'm going to go to Shreya Kundu as well, my colleague,
29:32because she's been tracking all the protests ever since the gang rape of a 17-year-old.
29:37And it's not just the gang rape of a 17-year-old.
29:39And we can be charged by being a tad bit fixated on that,
29:43but there have been five minors on at least what has been reported,
29:47assaulted in the last five weeks where the national capital is concerned.
29:51But Shreya raised a very important point that nothing has changed.
29:54Nirbhya was in 2012.
29:55And you know what, our producers, Malvika, our desk,
30:00and what I did was we sat and we pulled out footage from 2012.
30:05And you'd be very surprised.
30:07That time, there was other anchors from Ajitak and I,
30:12exactly the same experiment that we carried out on the streets of the national capital.
30:18This is me on the left-hand side in 2012.
30:21And you can see those two men out there,
30:24who very much where Aishwarya was standing, near Mulchand flyover, exactly the same.
30:30Look at these reports.
30:31And the fact is, you wouldn't think that 14 years have lapsed.
30:35What was 2012?
30:36At the same time, at about 8 o'clock at night, some a little later.
30:40And the reports that my colleagues have filed, 14 years.
30:44Nothing quite has changed.
30:45Take a look and I'm back with Shreya Kundu.
31:10It's 10.30 PM, I was trying to approach a metro station at Lajpatnagar,
31:14trying to take public transport home, with most women like a man,
31:17me do at this hour and sadly so the story on the roads of delhi doesn't seem to change the
31:23delhi
31:23police commissioner had promised that every arterial road will have a pcr well there was a pcr here
31:30standing right there if my camera person can actually show you and while i was walking up to
31:35the metro station i was eve teased i was harassed by three young men the minute they saw headlines
31:41today cameras they scooted five ladies we were misbehaved to us we were misbehaved to us
31:49your pcr van was behind you sir two hours ago that incident
31:58yes sir we were at 10.30 we were at 12.30
32:01sir if there was a motorcycle on the road we were standing there
32:08here we were going to the metro station we were going to the street in front of you sir
32:14and you sir have not moved here from the pcr we have waited for you to see because
32:18it has come from us and we didn't have to go away from the road we have to go away
32:22from the road
32:24sir you do not see what you are in front of you what you are in front of you
32:30sir you have not yet to have a motorcycle here we have to go from here
32:34I don't know.
33:04This is where the police control is located at the important intersection of the police.
33:24As you can see here, there is a car on the police.
33:46The attempt was for us to pull out our reports from 2012, me and two of the other anchors,
33:52my colleagues, exactly the same experiment, exactly the same result.
33:59Nothing quite has changed.
34:01And I want to bring in Shreya Kundu, who's now been following these protests, because there
34:06was this burst of protest during Nirbhya, and we thought so much is going to change.
34:13Laws were made, but did something change on ground?
34:17Absolutely nothing.
34:18And now, Shreya, you've been covering protests.
34:21There is a sense of the girls have had enough, and you can see it in their language, you
34:27can see it in their behaviour, you can hear it in their slogans.
34:31You know, the basic problem, Preeti, is that we think the girls have had enough now, I think
34:38the girls had had enough then as well.
34:41In 2012, when even you were out on the streets covering these protests when Nirbhya had happened,
34:48stricter laws were brought in.
34:50People had thought that, yes, things will change on the ground.
34:54The saddest part is, and I fear asking this question, I genuinely don't know what will
34:59change from now to the next 10 years, because we've been having the same conversations again
35:04and again and again.
35:05Yes, the authorities are responsible.
35:08And what I just brought out in my report a little while back, you know the footfall at
35:12Aastha Kunj Park just a day after the rape case had happened.
35:17I was shocked.
35:18It didn't even look like a crime scene.
35:20And there were certain people who were asking, what happened here?
35:24Some people, we even told them that, yes, day before there was a rape case that had happened.
35:29Oh, okay.
35:29And they just left.
35:30So that is the level of normalization.
35:33It's not even stuff like sexual harassment, youth teasing that's been normalized.
35:38Cases of rape.
35:39Public memory has become such now that cases of rape has also become a sort of a conversation
35:45or more like, yes, we open newspapers, we put on news channels, we see some cases, and then
35:52we just forget about them.
35:53That is the biggest problem.
35:54The second problem, yes, that I think all of us have mentioned is normalization, but I'll
35:59pick up one point that Jessica has raised, and I think this is the biggest problem as women
36:03we face, that even now, somewhere deep down, we've been conditioned that to be afraid.
36:09The fact that we're still asking, or saying, rather, that if we raise our voices out in
36:15public at a male gaze which we are not comfortable with, we don't know how others will respond.
36:21Why should we bother about how others will respond if we are not comfortable with a certain
36:25person's gaze?
36:26That is a simple question that we do not understand, and this is something that, you know, comes
36:31out of concern from our parents and family, relatives, all of them, that, you know, take care
36:36of yourselves, take care of what you're wearing, where are you going at what hour, all of that
36:42should be, you know, kept in mind when you're moving around, carry a pepper spray, carry a
36:46pocket knife or something to protect yourself.
36:48The question still remains, why should I need that?
36:52If I'm not comfortable at a certain place with a certain person's gaze at me, why can I
36:57not just call that person out?
36:59Why is there a question of, there is a defensive entire narrative that comes from the other side,
37:04we are not doing anything, you are making a big issue.
37:08It is a big issue, the minute I am not okay with you looking at me, your eyes do not
37:13belong
37:14at my body.
37:15And that's a simple sentence that needs to be understood, which will not just be done by
37:19authorities like police officers or government officials putting more streetlights.
37:22I think that mindset unfortunately has failed to change over the years from the very elementary
37:28level itself.
37:30And that is the problem that still continues to be there even today.
37:33And that's why we're still discussing this in 2026.
37:36In college, I'll just share a short incident since everybody did.
37:40In fact, I don't think my parents know about this.
37:43I've never ever spoken about this before.
37:46I remember there was a park, Kailash Colony Park, right next to my PG.
37:50And that park is a very, it's in a residential locality.
37:53It's a very safe, it's considered to be a very safe park.
37:56I remember I had gone out for a walk after dinner and this is around 8 o'clock.
38:01After dinner is not late in the night because we had curfews in our PG's.
38:05I went out for a walk, my friend and I are walking.
38:08There are certain small patches in that park which are not well lit up.
38:12Suddenly, we see one of those dark patches, there's a man starts to follow us.
38:17While he follows us, my friend just gets extremely scared.
38:20I'm holding her hand and I'm assuring her, you know, it's fine.
38:23We just need to make it till the next gate so that we can just go out to the market.
38:27And from the corner of my eye, I can see that man feeling himself up while he's chasing us.
38:34And these are such common incidents.
38:36That's what, I just want the camera to pull out at this minute.
38:39And I just want to, because there are so many other girls who are watching and there is a sense
38:43of solidarity.
38:43I just want, we haven't quite discussed this, but a show of hands.
38:47How many of us have witnessed a man flashing us?
38:51All of us, it's disturbing.
38:53How many?
38:54How normal it is.
38:55We've all witnessed a man, how many of us have witnessed a man making obscene gestures at us?
39:01All of us.
39:01Of course.
39:02How many of us here have been felt up in a public space?
39:07All of us.
39:08So many rallies.
39:09How many of us have borderline been sexually assaulted?
39:15Now, that's a hundred percent count.
39:17How many of us usually never speak about it?
39:22You know, it's, and I know every girl, every woman who's watching this is raising her hand.
39:29Yeah.
39:29And I want to just now go back because I'll tell you what's different Shreya.
39:33What's different from 2012 and what's different here.
39:35I see a sense of catharsis with someone who's covered that protest and who was at the LSR protest.
39:40There is now a sense of, you know, not to use expletives, but damn it.
39:47We've had enough.
39:48You know, and that, I think, Shreya, what has happened?
39:51I think the DU, all the girls from DU have now written to the government saying what?
39:56Today they met at the YMCA auditorium.
39:58All of us, they came together.
39:59They prepared a charter of demands and they have sent it to the PMO.
40:03They've said that these, this, this are our demands.
40:06This is what you need to implement for us to feel safe in public spaces.
40:10If you do not agree to it, we will sit at Jantar Mantar.
40:13All right.
40:14So they are threatening and I am so glad and I possibly, usually journalists need to remain neutral,
40:19but I'd possibly go and join that protest.
40:21It's time in the coming.
40:22There are a few things that I think we've all discussed.
40:25We, so much, and we speak about special sessions in parliament.
40:29If there is a special session, I think this is urgent enough.
40:32A special session should be called for this.
40:33There should be now discussion where chemical castration is concerned.
40:36Lots of countries, which are humane in nature, allow now and have introduced chemical castration.
40:42To the very least, what about women, police women in plain clothes in public spaces?
40:48This was a petition that has been lying with the Delhi police for years, but nothing quite has been done
40:54about it.
40:55I want to just take final comments. I believe we are running, you know, short of time.
40:58But Aishwarya, what would you want to say?
41:01If you want to, you know, encapsulate what we are looking at, what can be done, should be done, what
41:05would you say?
41:06I think first and foremost, in our homes, yes, you need to be very explicit about good touch and bad
41:13touch and damn the society.
41:17I think this is something which every girl should type in bold and, you know, just paste.
41:22You paste it in your wardrobe, you paste it, you know, the washroom where you go, you paste it on
41:26your walls.
41:27You need to call it out. It could be someone very close to you, it could be someone very close
41:31to your parents,
41:32because unfortunately, in most of these cases, we have seen people who are close to the families, they are the
41:37ones who do it.
41:38So now is the time, I think, that we need to call it out and publicly shame those people.
41:43You know, we talk so much about the angst of the youth.
41:46Just because the angst of the woman is not as loud, that doesn't mean it doesn't quite exist, especially in
41:51our country.
41:52You can see it on the streets and I am so glad that you finally hear it on the streets.
41:56Final comments, Jessica.
41:57Yes, you're talking about what we hear on the streets. Some people are so angry right now.
42:02I mean, I look at my feed on Instagram and all I see is women making reels about how angry
42:07they are.
42:08Some of the slogans, very interesting ones, like...
42:12I love the...
42:13Eek samosa, do...
42:14Eek kachori, do samosa, do...
42:16Eek kachori, do samosa, in mardoka, kya bharosa.
42:18What is it?
42:19Because I think it goes a lot.
42:20Eek kachori, do samosa, in mardoka, kya bharosa.
42:23And the other one which I really like is...
42:26Nari apne aap ki nahi kisi ke baap al.
42:29So they are like, we are just on our own.
42:31We have to all just look out for ourselves.
42:33And everybody is making...
42:34Right.
42:34No matter what the occasion is.
42:36Ok, Karthaki, very quickly. Sorry, sorry.
42:38I just get speech raised when it comes to women's safety because we have been doing the social experiment for
42:43so long and even after 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, we do it.
42:48Men...
42:49Yeah, men with failures.
42:50And I don't know I have anything to say about it.
42:52I mean, it's so normal.
42:55Shreya, final comments.
42:57I just have one phrase I would say.
42:59Our existence is not an invitation.
43:01And I think men need to understand that and understand that very, very soon.
43:04We can all sit here with placards.
43:07I love the placards that are coming.
43:08I love the slogans.
43:09Absolutely.
43:10The creative slogans, but it's very sad the reality it's bringing out at the end of the day.
43:14And I really hope what it really brings out, and I will quote a slogan.
43:17You can put it on a placard.
43:19Yeah.
43:19It's what Margaret Atwood said.
43:21That if you don't want to raise an army, you shouldn't have given us uniforms.
43:24And she was talking about women.
43:25And I think the uniform is being woman.
43:28And what I see on the streets today is an army that has come together against being constantly stared at,
43:35sexually harassed, looked at.
43:37I think everybody's had quite enough.
43:40Yeah.
43:40All right.
43:40We're going to end it there.
43:41Thank you for joining us.
43:44We're going to keep a keen eye.
43:4510 days.
43:46We talk about ultimatums being issued.
43:48DU girls have issued an ultimatum to the government.
43:5110 days.
43:52Listen to us.
43:53Or we're going to be a gentleman.