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The recent social media phenomenon #MeToo showed how commonly women are molested in public places. However, most of them find it difficult to respond in such a situation.
But 19-year-old Nikitha Suresh, a second year law student in Thiruvananthapuram, was quick on her feet to take on her harasser.
The man, a head constable, tried to get away after groping Nikitha in a public place, but little did he know that the young woman was trained in the martial art of Karate.
The incident happened last Saturday at a parking lot in Trida shopping complex in the city, near the medical college.
Nikitha was out with her mother and her sister Neha, a school student.
The man was taken to the nearest police station by the public.
It was only later that the family realised that the molester was a police constable attached to the Neyyattinkara police station. He has been charged for harassing and verbally abusing women.
Nikitha has been training in Karate for some time and it’s been six months since her younger sister Neha joined the class. A blue belt, Nikitha has taken part in a few tournaments too.
Even in Karate training, Nikitha has noticed gender discrimination. In the first class that she went for, at the age of 15, she noticed that the trainer would teach the difficult moves only to the boys. This prompted Nikitha to quit the class and train under another expert.
The confidence boost that learning a martial art gave her is immense, Nikitha points out.
Not just the society's attitude, it's the girl's family too that conditions her to accept sexual harassment, Nikitha feels.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute)
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