Install CCTV cameras across city, say residents

Tighten police security

The fairer sex in the city has been reeling under insecurity. Wolves in the guise of lambs are roaming around them. Prime targets for miscreants are educational institutions, women work places, buses, trains, malls and religious and recreational places. The presence of police in and around these centers needs to be strengthened. Punitive measures via improvised usage of technology are the need of the hour. None of the crime against women should go unpunished. The FIRs should be carefully worded and brilliantly executed in the court of law. Administration must arrange awareness drives in schools and colleges so that adolescents could easily detect such criminal elements.

BRISH BHAN GHALOTI, Basant Avenue, Ludhiana

Raise voice against injustice

Safety of women is of utmost importance for a society to be called civilised. Women in Ludhiana are subject to innumerable problems in the form of eve teasing, chain/bag snatching and sexual assault. To check this problem, women need to be taught techniques of self-defense and to raise voice against injustice. The music and film industry should stop objectifying women and strict action should be taken against those who indulge in such practices. Parents should not differentiate between the upbringing of a male and female child. The police should be strict with eve teasers, drug addicts and snatchers. Cameras should be installed across the city to check any untoward incident. In this way, we can restore the lost confidence of women in the administration and society at large and make city a safe place for them.

Deepak Nagpal, Model Town Extention, Ludhiana

Organise awareness programmes

The police security should be tightened in all those areas where women have been more vulnerable to mishaps. The police must prepare a list of such spots and keep a strict vigilance there. The police must also display its emergency telephone contact number at those places so that women are able to immediately contact them. The Municipal Corporation must install CCTV cameras in all such spots so that the defaulters are well recognised and punished in time. Unfortunately, many such defaulters escape the punishment due to interference by the local administration or politicians. The police must also arrange education programmes in colleges to educate students about the menace.

Dr G Dev, Kitchlu Nagar

Learn self-defence techniques

Almost half our population is living under the shadow of fear of harassment, molestation, stalking or rape. The problem is more acute among school and college children or those working late at night. The issue could be tackled via a multi-pronged approach. Round-the-clock patrolling by the police, formation of mohalla committees whose members would assist the police, self-defense training for women, sensitisation of men in offices and factories by a responsible and responsive HR department and by elders in the homes, religious leaders during their congregations could check the atrocities on women. Speedy trials and stricter punishment under the law need to be awarded to the offenders.

Ashwani K Malhotra

Implement stricter laws

Not a single day passes without the incidents of molestation degradation, teasing, kidnapping, rapes and violence against women in the city. Women are unsafe in the city, under the prevailing circumstances. The law and order situation has deteriorated completely the authorities concerned have become helpless. Women have rights and privileges on a par with men. Be it political, social, religious, educational, scientific or technical, there is no field where women have not done commendable jobs. Despite this, they have not yet received their due respect in society. Uncivilised treatment is meted out towards women. India has progressed much in all fields, but it has also progressed in indifferent attitude towards women. Such kind of immoral activities can be dated back to ages. Incidents such as molestation, degradation, kidnappings happened even in the epics (Mahabharata and Ramayana). Women should learn self-defense techniques to protect themselves. Strict laws should be made and implemented against culprits. Capital punishment should be awarded to those guilty of heinous crimes Maximum CCTV cameras should be installed throughout the city and police patrolling should be in on 24/7.

Kuldip Singh Kreer, Ludhiana

Teach boys to respect women

Kids being sexually assaulted in “temples of learning” indicate the plight of our society. The law enforcers are corrupt, can be influenced by a phone call from a political leader and courts take decades to decide upon a case. The best remedy for this malady is educating our sons the right way and teaching them to repect women. All sections of society have to come forward to make the system accountable.

Major Gurdeep S Samra (retd)

Boost security measures

Despite better education and work opportunities and changing social attitudes, women still have to experience physical and emotional violence at home, on the streets, in public transport, in schools, workplace and leisure spaces. One in three women in the city experience gender-based violence, harmful practices such as trafficking, forced marriage, domestic violence and female genital mutilation. The basic root of crime against women is sick mentality wherein a woman is made a victim of chauvinism. Rapid urbanisation and large migration into the city has increased women’s vulnerability to sexual violence in public spaces. There is a dearth of legal instruments to deal with sexual violence. Besides this, a culture of impunity for men responsible for sexual violence also deters women from reporting crimes. Women’s safety, needs and requirements are rarely reflected in planning. To create safe environments, we have to encourage community development. Secondly, police presence should be enhanced and security measures should be boosted. Thirdly, changing mindsets and spaces is necessary. At last, city authorities must commit to and enter into constructive dialogue with women’s groups and advocates for ensuring the safety of women in the city.

RAVI CHANDER GARG, Ludhiana

Address the issue urgently

Women’s safety has been a problem in India for the past several years. If the issues were addressed with urgency before, things might have been different today. Don’t wait for the next act of violence of against a woman to react. As per the National Crime Record Bureau, 79 per cent women in India are unsafe, insecure and directly under threat of harassment. We must listen, understand and become aware of situations and choices of people and various cultures around us to understand their thinking and attitude towards women. Give equal respect to women at home, workplace, restaurant or any other space. Men and women should work hard to disintegrate the old-aged patriarchal system of the society. In different localities, CCTVs must be installed and the number of women officerss and PCRs should be increased. Emergency numbers must be displayed at various places across the city. Above all, we must teach our children honesty, civility, gratitude and empathy.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

Change mindset

Several initiatives have been taken to deal with women safety issues, but the problem remains. Laws should be made stricter. Another thing which should be done is changing the mindset of people. Children should be taught well about the gap between a boy and a girl and taught to respect each other.

Karan Chopra