When more and more girl students are choosing to travel alone at night from distant hostels to their homes, asserting that the nights are theirs too, it is the responsibility of the government and the public transport services owned by the government to ensure that they create safe environments for them.
In a shocking incident, the bus crew refused to stop a bus for a girl in Payyoli, where her father was waiting for her at midnight, and instead stopped only after another 20 km. Her father had to seek police intervention to get the bus to stop so his daughter could get down. In light of such an incident, we spoke to college students in Kerala about their night time travel experiences.
“I was pursuing my UG in St. Joseph’s College, Calicut, and returning to my hometown in Kuttipuram at around 8pm. I was sitting in the ladies seat when a man suddenly came and sat near me. There weren’t any ladies standing and so I didn’t make an issue of it. After some time, other passengers started questioning me as to whether I know that man as he was trying to click pictures of me. The conductor was a lady and I brought the matter to her notice. She spoke to him and asked me to change the seat instead of asking the man to go and sit somewhere else. That too when it was mentioned that seat was for ladies. The man was at fault and I was asked to change my seat,” narrates Kavya P.G. , who is pursuing B.Ed at Govt IASE Thrissur
“Safety alters with the route you take. The state has not achieved a point where it can say public and private bus transportation is gender friendly. Rash driving at night makes it unsafe too. Not to forget the gestures with eyes and hands from fellow passengers. Though the conductor of an inter-state KSRTC bus that I took recently enquired about my safety over phone after dropping me at an odd point, which was just 200 m away from the bus station, he dropped me at a trouble-prone area in the first place,” says Sweta Pramod, a post graduate student at Central University of Tamil Nadu.
“I had started travelling during night time right from my school days. I haven’t had a single experience of misconduct from the part of the bus crew or co-passengers till today. I might be an exception but I have listened to personal experiences of a handful of my friends who were harassed in the public transport system, with even attempts of molestation. I am cautious every single time I decide to travel alone. The situation is indeed saddening as it takes away the freedom of travel from the women folk, who are an already marginalised group,” says Priya Alphonsa Mathew, a post graduate student at SH college, Thevara.
Instead of tying down the dreams of young girls, limiting them to the freedom offered by daylight only, it is high time we work together to create equal and safe night spaces for women too. The change should be brought out by the government and its associated institutions. Instances like what happened in Payyoli should be avoided. After all, the nights and dreams and streets are hers too.
