JOIN USVinita (name changed) has never had the courage to approach the police for help or complain against the boy who had harassed her two years ago.
“That boy ruined my life; whenever I think of the incident, I shiver. He would stalk me up to North Campus every day. Once I got late returning from college and, since I was alone, he had his chance,” said Vinita, who was pursuing her graduation from Delhi University then.
She alleged that the boy tried to force her to become “friendly” and to touch her by grabbing her at the waist. “I yelled and slapped him. I did not have the courage to tell my father about the incident. I did tell my mother but she asked me to ‘adjust’ as society will never accept that it is the boy’s fault. They will instead blame me for wearing jeans and short shirts,” she said with anger.
Next day while she was on her way to college, the stalker clicked Vinita’s photograph and walked away hastily. “He managed to get my mobile number from somewhere and did the most disgusting thing.
I will never be able to forgive him,” she said. The boy had posted her photograph on an adult website along with her phone number. Vinita got to know about it after she started getting random calls from men and boys asking her how much money she charged for her “services.”
Instead of filing a police complaint against the boy, Vinita decided to confront him. “I spoke to him and realised that I had hurt his ego by yelling at him, which made him get back at me. I pleaded with him to delete it but he agreed on the condition that I will become his close friend. I refused,” she explained.
She took help from some male friends in college, who threatened the stalker and managed to get the photo and number off the website.
“The boy has left the locality but I do not feel safe in Delhi any more. Even in the metro and buses people try to touch us in areas we are not comfortable with. Apart from yelling or snapping back at the molester, there is nothing more a girl can do in a city like this because of the stigma attached to words such as molestation, rape, sexual abuse and the like,” said Vinita, who now works with a Delhi-based NGO.
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