CWG gold medallist Krishna Poonia chases down eve teaser, saves 2 girls

Jaipur: Indian discus thrower Krishna Poonia turned into a real-life hero, when she hunted down an eve teaser in Churu, a small town in Rajasthan, on New Year’s Day.

Poonia, who was waiting inside her car at a railway crossing, had spotted three young men harassing a couple of teenaged girls. The 39-year-old instantly jumped out of the car and made towards the three eve teasers. Realising the gravity of the situation, the three eve teasers instantly made a run for it, on a motorbike.

However, Poonia, who had clinched a gold medal for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, chased one of them down, hauling him off the saddle of the bike.

“When I saw those two girls being harassed, I thought that they could well have been my daughters,” Poonia was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times. “That made me go after the men.”

After catching the eve teaser, Poonia rang-up the police, who arrived at the scene some time later. She also criticised the law enforcers for arriving at the scene late.

“The police station was barely two minutes away from the spot but it took the cops some time to reach and I had to phone them twice,” she said. “How will cops ensure women’s safety if they arrive late?”

Poonia opined that society needs to take such things seriously, and not just play the dumb spectator when they see women being harassed.

“The problem with our society is that there are not many people who would raise their voice and protest when they see a girl being harassed,” said Poonia. “Instead, they choose to stay mute spectators.”