A Country Cannot Be Developed If Its Women Are Not Safe.

Image Source: Sentinel Digital Desk

Hi guys,

For the past few months, I have been planning to step out of my home to look for a job. Right now, there is only one city as an option—Delhi.

A few days ago, a news popped up on my screen. A woman in Faridabad was gang-raped in a moving van. It completely shocked me. There are countless women who use public transport every single day. They wait for buses, autos, cabs., sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. Now imagine this: a random van stops, forces her inside, and she is raped. Can you even imagine that fear? Aise mere saath ho gaya toh? Of course, this should never happen to anyone but still, the first thought that comes to our mind is about ourselves.

And see, Women don’t just walk or travel freely. Every time they step out, there is a constant fear sitting at the back of their minds.

Before going out, women calculate everything:

• What time is it?
• What should I wear?
• Which route is safer?
• Should I share my location?

And so many questions.

Dear men, living life with that fear is not easy.

I want to share my own experience because this is not just news for me. I have lived it.

I was travelling from Agra to Delhi by train. I was asleep when I suddenly felt an inappropriate bad touch from the man sitting on the seat behind me. I woke up in shock. It took me almost 10 minutes to fully process what had happened.

You know what shocked me even more?
That man was an army man.

When I gathered courage and spoke up, there was a policeman (travelling as a passenger) sitting beside him and another man nearby. I clearly told them that this person had touched me inappropriately. Instead of supporting me, both of them said, “Rehne dijiye, ma’am”—let it go.

When I asked why I should let it go, the other man responded,
“Aap train mein aise shabd bol rahi ho? Yahan behen-beti baithi hui hain, aapko sharam nahi aa rahi?”

In that entire train, no one supported me except my sister.

So maybe in India, saying “bad touch” is considered wrong, but doing it is allowed? Is it?

I called the police helpline. When the police arrived, the man tried to run away, but he was caught. Then he started apologising“Maaf kar do behen”.

The policeman then spoke to me rudely and said,
“Madam, yahan station par time waste mat karo. Chalo, police station chalo.”

The truth is, I didn’t have the time or energy to go through all of it. So I said, “Rehne dijiye, itna time nahi hai.” And he was let go.

What hurts the most is this:
I am a lawyer. I know the law. I know my rights.
Yet even I chose to let him go.

Now imagine how many such cases happen every day in India.
And imagine how many of them are never even registered.

This is not only about rape cases.
This is about every form of sexual harassment that gets normalised.

We proudly say that our country is developing. But what is development?
Is it just advanced technology, missiles, rockets, or big buildings?

If you think that’s development, my dear friend, you are absolutely wrong.

You cannot call yourself a developed nation if you cannot ensure safety for your women.

Take the Unnao rape case as an example. A sitting MLA was accused and later convicted of rape. During the case, the survivor’s father died in custody. Later, her aunts were killed in a car accident while she was travelling with her lawyer. Whether accidents or not, these events exposed how dangerous it is for survivors to fight powerful people in this country. Justice came but after years of suffering, intimidation, and loss.

Is this what justice looks like?

And the problem doesn’t end in real life.
Women are now unsafe even in the digital world. I recently saw men giving commands to Grok, asking it to change women’s clothes into bikinis or make them naked. And what did the CEO of Twitter (X) do? Nothing. Just enjoyed the show.

Recently, an old video from 2021 resurfaced where a Karnataka MLA said, “Rape is inevitable, so lie down and enjoy it.”

I mean, what is this?

We elected these people so they would make better laws and protect us. And this is what they say? “Enjoy it”?

What should women expect anymore?

I feel that making laws is not enough. We already have laws. What we truly lack is speedy justice, strict enforcement, and treating women’s safety as a real and urgent issue.

Do you know how long rape cases take to reach conviction in India? Years—sometimes even decades. During this time, survivors are often forced to relive their trauma again and again in courtrooms.

If women have to live with constant fear..outside their homes, at workplaces, on the streets, and even online then we must ask ourselves what progress really means.

To be honest, development without women’s safety is meaningless.

Women’s safety is not a “women’s issue”.
It is a human rights issue and a responsibility of the nation as a whole.

Until women are safe, no country—no matter how powerful—can truly call itself developed.