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“Will I be safe?”
For most women, negotiating a city is interlinked with the answer to this question. In Delhi, the Delhi Metro invariably figures on top of the ‘safe spaces’ list. But a regular Sunday night commute for Megha Dixit, a Masters student of Communication Systems and Circuit, shattered that stereotype for her and many other Twitter users.
In a thread on Twitter, Megha posted how she was followed and tackled by a man on a staircase of the Golf Course Metro station on Sunday.
The most startling part of Megha’s story is the reaction of the security guards around her while she was shouting for help to stop the man. Instead of coming to her aid, they allegedly stood around and watched.
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What led Megha to post about her experience on Twitter?
Anger and helplessness which she and her family felt during the incident.
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Her post sparked a string of reactions on Twitter with many users debating who is responsible for ensuring a woman’s safety in a city. Megha says after her experience last night, she has realised that the onus of safety lies ultimately with the woman herself.
But how could Twitter let a woman’s personal experience go unquestioned without filtering it through the misogynistic lens? In a scenario familiar to most women on social media, there were users who also attacked Megha for not filing an FIR and called her experience a ‘cooked up story.’
Safety in a city is an issue which is intertwined with questions of class, caste and privilege. While there’s a need for safe spaces in a city, including Delhi, personal experiences like Megha’s remind us that it’s also essential to continue pushing for reclaiming public spaces.
Twitter trolls aside, what’s the one takeaway from her terrible experience which Megha wants people to remember?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 29 May 2017,07:11 PM IST