The rape of a college student on Hanuman Tekdi in Deccan area last Wednesday has brought to fore scores of weak spots in the city where women can be sexually assaulted.
Many are common places that most people would not think twice about before visiting.
A team, headed by police commissioner K K Pathak, surveyed the city and neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad and identified places where women can be subjected to assault. The study will go on, police said.
Police had already identified 52 spots, which has now expanded to 102 vulnerable locations.
Some spots the police have identified in the city include the area near a prominent mall on North Main Road, M G Road, Sarasbaug, Swargate bus stand, Savitribai Phule Pune University , Baner-Pashan Link Road, Bhairobanala bus stop and Shivajinagar railway station area.
These and many other spots are where woman can be easily molested, teased or sexually assaulted at any time, they said.
The study team includes police officers, officials from the public works department, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, civic bodies and others.
“The committee will recommend and implement corrective measures at these spots,“ police inspector Pratibha Joshi said. She heads the women’s assistance cell of the crime branch, which is conducting the survey .
Joshi said the issues pertaining to working women in the city have changed in the last few years.
“There is a rise in the number of shopping malls, educational institutes and other commercial establishments and women prefer to go alone to these places, sometimes. Working women step out for jobs and return home late in the night. It has become necessary to avert incidents of sexual abuse on the streets,“ she said.
There have been ghastly incidents in the past. A few years ago, Darshana Tongare of Suvarna Park Society in Bavdhan Khurd, was stabbed in the chest with a sharp weapon in a lane outside her house. She had just been dropped in an isolated dark lane by her boyfriend, also a software engineer. She died two hours later while undergoing treatment. Her case remains unsolved.
On January 5, this year, a jilted lover allegedly threatened and molested a 17-yearold girl in Hadapsar. He was armed with a knife. Assistant commissioner of police (Wanowrie) Ravindra Rasal had then said the youth was arrested.
The victim was walking near her college campus when the suspect, armed with a knife, accosted her and abused her in full public view. He allegedly grabbed her arm and beat her up. She rescued herself and ran away . She told police that the youth had been following her to college.
Police admitted that on the streets, there are issues of public toilets for women, lack of street lights, poor il lumination and improper footpaths among others. “All the agencies looking after law and order issues and road infrastructure will have to implement corrective measures to avoid incidents of sexual assaults in public places,“ she said.
Staff of local police stations were ordered to study previous cases of molestations or sexual harassment and do a field study.
The local policemen were ordered to identify these spots and submit a report to the police commissioner’s office. A team comprising different officers and Joshi visited these spots for verification.
Joshi said some police stations identified three to four spots while some others like Chandannagar, Deccan Gymkhana, Kondhwa, Wanowrie and Chatushrungi identified more than eight spots in their jurisdiction.
Some police stations had identified hilly tracts as dangerous for women to ven ure into. The committee has also identified areas near the Pune and Shivajinagar railway stations as vulnerable or women.
Bus stops located near schools and colleges were also declared as weak spots because boys and men tend to offer lifts to the girls if they are waiting for buses.
Civic authorities will be directed to put up powerful street lamps at spots identified as poorly lit.
Illumination is required on the foot overbridges, subways and on deserted roads, he committee members sa d. “The authorities are working on illumination issues,“ Joshi said.
Police have requested civic authorities to construct proper public toilets for women. A police team is conducting counseling sessions n schools and colleges on sexual abuse and how to avert it on roads, parks or in malls, Joshi said.
Source : TOI