Men enter women's coaches in Hyderabad Metro Rail

Hyderabad: Many men who took the Metro on Wednesday crossed the pink ribbon and entered the women-only zone on the trains. Women were left standing in area reserved for them.

Hyderabad Metro Rail demarcates the ladies section with a pink satin ribbon both inside the train and in the station. Prominent floor stickers reading “Ladies only” have been placed, and the seat mention “Reserved for Ladies”. Despite this, men occupied spaces meant for women.

The huge crowd caused discomfort for women using the service. Ms D. Manasa who commutes from Habisguda to Prakash Nagar, said, “Women shy away from asking men to get up from the reserved seat. Recently when I pointed out to a commuter that he was sitting on a ladies seat, he remained indecisive on whether to get up or not. When I insisted, he reluctantly got up.” Since the number of station assistants on platforms has been reduced, there are a very few staff to stop male passengers from boarding women’s coaches. 

Another commuter, Ms Ankitha S., who regularly commutes from Ameerpet to Nagole, said, “Often men tend to enter the train from the women’s coach, despite the indicators even on the ground. I have witnessed some of them entering into arguments with women commuters who protested.”

She said that additional staff should be deployed during peak hours at various stations. “At Ameerpet, security request men to leave the ladies coach. Because of this men do not enter the coach at least till Paradise station.”

Ms Ankitha said. These violations happen across all the corridors. Not only visual cues, passengers ignore audio announcements requesting them to offer seats to women, senior citizens and the differently abled.