LOST RESPECT

                             LOST RESPECT

Eve teasing is a term  used in India and sometimes Pakistan BANGLADESH and Nepal for public  sexual harassment or molestation of women by men, with use of the word "Eve" being a reference to the biblical Eve, the first woman .It implies that the woman is in some way responsible for the behavior of the perpetrators of this act. Considered a problem related to delinquency in youth.

Blasts, riots and terror attacks have been unsuccessful in taking the sheen off Maximum City. But a demon lurking within may just be able to do that.

Mumbai was always touted as a "safe city" for women. But with growing cases of eve-teasing and assaults on people who protest this evil. Will Mumbai lose its tag of being a safe city for women ?? Following the murders of two young men for protesting a woman friend being harassed, the city's citizens have initiated several campaigns to make their intolerance for eve-teasing clear. But even as the police are forming squads to nab eve-teasers and opening up helpline numbers, as many as three cases of eve-teasing in the past one week have created a sense of insecurity among the women.

In a recent incident, the police arrested three men from suburban Juhu for allegedly misbehaving with a girl and attacking another who confronted them. Lakhan Devendra, Tambi Devendra and Shiva Devendra began harassing a girl on Thursday night near an ice cream shop in Juhu. When eyewitness Ajay Hogade intervened, he was thrashed. His sister Rupali too protested the harassment of the other girl. These men then attacked her and bit off a portion of her thumb. The police finally arrested the trio following Rupali's complaint.

In a similar case, an eve-teaser slashed off the finger of a man in Dombivli who objected to his wife being harassed. Bipin Dalani, 46, was allegedly attacked by Maruti Mane on Thursday after the former protested the harassment of his wife Kavita. Mane is absconding even as the police have registered a complaint against him.

Both these instances have brought back the bitter memory of the brutal murders of Reuben Fernandez and Keenan Santos on October 20. The boys were attacked by group of men in Andheri with choppers after they objected to the men harassing one of their women friends and Keenan's girlfriend. Keenan died on the spot, while Reuben succumbed to his injuries a few days later. The rising incidents of eve-teasing have left women feeling insecure.

Samantha Pinto, an IT professional, said: "Though Mumbai is safer than many other cities, it can no longer be considered absolutely safe. Hooligans in crowded trains and railway platforms think they can get away with anything. We need a better police mechanism." The city youth have formed groups on social networking sites demanding stricter laws and modifications of sections in the Indian Penal Code dealing with harassment of women. Individual police zones under the city commissionerate have also launched their own actions against miscreants.

DCP Vishwas Nagre Patil of the Western Zone set up a special squad last week to round up people who harass women. Within four days of its formation, the squad had cornered over 60 people. Maharashtra's minister of state for home Satej Patil has had a text message sent to all mobile users detailing the police numbers and helplines that one can call in cases of eve-teasing. But women think this is not enough.