‘You’re Not Safe’: Delhi Woman Shatters Safety Clichés on Twitter

In a Twitter thread, Megha narrated how she was followed & physically tackled by a man at a Delhi metro station.

“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.

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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.

I realised that what happened today could have happened to anybody and could have been worse. I was angry at how inefficient the security arrangements are. How weak a woman can get in such situations and how easy it is for these creeps to take an upper hand. People who refused to nab the guy came to me and said ‘Madame aap report kardo, Madam aap pakdo isse’. All this while my father was still trying to chase him! The helplessness that my family and I have gone through while being surrounded by a crowd is what prompted me to put up this Twitter post.

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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.

Nobody will help you. A woman needs to be aware of her personal space and anything or anyone that comes in contact with them. A slight brush of a hand against the metro handle, a gentle push in a metro, everything matters. Until the security gets better, we have to avoid some places. As sad as it is, it is the present solution.

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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.’

Rape, assault, harassment are all a woman’s fault for these men. Comments are one thing, I had people scanning my outfit and giving me hidayat at the exact moment I was chasing him. So that is that. A lot of women came forward to acknowledge that worse or similar things have happened to them. They know they are not alone and we can be a stronger and more attentive unit together.

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?

“The purpose was not to only tell people about what happened, it was to make sure it CAN be avoided.”