Irshad Hussain
“I’m not sure if he was a predator or a human being, he was sitting at the back seat and ogling at me constantly, had there been no passengers in the bus, he would have jumped on my body, I felt.” Nighat Banoo (name changed ), 23, a graduate student from Srinagar, was about to fall from an overcrowded bus when a 41 years old man was touching her behind inappropriately. “He put his hands on my hands, then moved them towards my arms, then shoulders, I was helpless and unable to do anything. So, I took out my phone from my purse and called my sister, she encouraged me to raise my voice. But I was trembling,” she said.
This did not stop here, the person followed her constantly for the next few days, chased her almost everywhere. She says that the person resorting to toucherism found his sexual delight from touching or rubbing or pushing me.
Stories like that of Nighat are commonplace in the overloaded buses in Kashmir that have become pivotal places for predators to harass women, particularly the school and college-going girls. It is a fact that the first nine seats in public transportation have been reserved for women. But since the public buses are overcrowded, such things are often overlooked in the valley. It is troublesome for women especially those going to colleges who travel through public transport as the fear of somebody attempting to touch or rub himself against their body always lurks. Women confront it nearly every day. But no one dares to talk about it.
Eve Teasing and Public Transport in Kashmir
Nighat Banoo, who is an undergraduate student in a Bengaluru college says that it is safe to travel on local buses in Bengaluru than in Kashmir. “Buses in Bengaluru have two compartments, the front compartment is for males and the one at the back is for females. Males are not allowed to get into the female compartment. My perception regarding Kashmir being safe for women has changed now, ” Nighat added.
Shazia Akhter, 21 years old, (name changed) another undergraduate student from Srinagar, narrated her ordeal to The Kashmiriyat. She told us that while going for tuitions, she faced harassment on daily basis, she would often come across men who’d touch her inappropriately in these overcrowded buses. “Due to the continuous harassment in public buses, many a time, I decided to walk on foot. But then, there is a breaking point for everything. Finally, I got a scooter. I am pretty sure many girls have faced a similar kind of harassment and many are still facing this,” she said.
In a politically-charged up atmosphere like in Kashmir, the woes of women, especially in public spaces go unheard. The High court in Kashmir are theatres of intrigue and incite. Among scores of lawyers, handling cases from divorce to harassment, assaults to criminal cases, is advocate Meer Yaasra. She sounds like an alarmist saying, “Domestic violence and harassment cases are fast rising and hence the crisis for society. We need to tackle the situation before it increases to a point beyond our control.”
Meer Yaasra, a lawyer by profession, told The Kashmiriyat over the phone that there are various provisions of law concerning this matter. One being the IPC section 351, Assault, which states, “Whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit as assault.”
Yaasra, quoting 354C of IPC, Voyeurism along with it, states, “Any man who watches, or captures the image of a woman engaging in a private act in circumstances where she would usually have the expectation of not being observed either by the perpetrator or by any other person at the behest of the perpetrator or disseminates such image shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year, but which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine, and be punished on a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years, but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
In a study themed ‘Eve Teasing in Kashmir’ by students of the Kashmir University, Aadil Bashir and Shabana Khurshid found that despite being caught in conflict and subjected to numerous physical and mental traumas, women in Kashmir have shown great character and strength in competing with their male counterparts. The study also points out that one of the alarming issues that women often come across is eve-teasing in our public transport.
According to a survey by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) in Kashmir, 14% of the women who have faced physical or sexual harassment have sought help, while 77% have never told anyone about the violence they experienced. (2015 data)
Of 405,861 crimes reported by women in India in 2019, Jammu Kashmir accounted for 3,069 cases, including rape, molestation, and domestic violence. There were 223 rapes, 1,440 assaults with intent to outrage their modesty, 348 cases of cruelty by husbands, and eight dowry-related deaths recorded in the erstwhile state in 2019.
The Initiatives to Stop Harassment
Samreen (Name changed ), another college student who regularly travels on a local bus told us that she’s faced harassment many times while traveling in a local bus, she added that she gets confused about whether she should react or remain quiet.
Samreen, while sharing her experience with The Kashmiriyat said, “I was sitting besides a middle-aged man once, he touched my breast inappropriately, he didn’t stop there, and went on rubbing his private part.” She said she quickly moved out of the seat with tears in her eyes. Samreen said she was crying the whole way home and didn’t get the courage to share this incident with anyone. She said that the incident disturbed her mental health a lot. Samreen said that she would prefer going home on foot rather than facing harassment on a local bus.
In October 2019, the Government ordered the winding up of the State Commission for Protection of Women & Child Rights (SCPWCR). The commission’s authority ceased on 1 November 2019 after the Jammu Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
A feasible initiative was taken towards women’s security by the former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, years ago, for the protection of women from sexual harassment in overloaded buses. She introduced a bus service particularly for women folk in Srinagar, however in 2018, the women’s commission which received numerous complaints of sexual harassment, domestic violence was shut.
Years ago, in order to counter the sexual harassment of women in Kashmir, ex District Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said they have set up One-Stop Center for women in the city. “Any woman facing any kind of harassment can call on 181 for immediate help. It is a center established by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Women in distress can register their complaints about harassment at public places here.”
Although, when The Kashmiriyat contacted the Women Police Station, Rammunshi Bagh, Srinagar, the woman police official told us that they do not receive such kind of complaints. “We only receive domestic conflict-based cases. Once we get reports regarding these incidents, we will act accordingly, ” she said.
The Names of the women we spoke to have been changed at their request.