Did your mummy tell you to ignore eve-teasers who harass you on the road? How’s that working for you? One 23-year-old girl from UP decided that it wasn’t working for her. She decided to go on a counter offensive.
When she got winked at by the security gunner of a Samajwadi Party functionary, Abhinav Sharma, the 23-year-old woman, identified as Sadhvi Pandey, jumped on the Mercedes, tore the party flag on the car’s bonnet and smashed the windshield.
The woman then challenged the guard to face her. She created quite the storm, causing a huge mob to gather around the car.
During the scuffle, a guard took her phone and smashed it on the ground, as it contained a photo of the winker.
Eyewitnesses also added that instead of taking the Samajwadi Party leader and his security personnel to task, the police insisted that the lady accompany the police to the police station to give a written complaint. She, however, refused, PTI quoted them as saying.
The matter was later resolved after an hour-long debate, when the woman was paid Rs.6,500 for her damaged handset. The video, however, has gone viral on social media, with people applauding the woman’s reaction.
Talking about the incident, Sadhvi told PTI, “There was no bravery in my act. You could have also reacted in the same manner if anything you had purchased with your hardearned money had broken. Had they not broken my mobile and had taken action against the guard, we would not have gone so extreme,” she added.
Sadhvi is being nonchalant about the affair, but the fact is that this security guard will now remember this episode every time he wants to harass or leer at a woman, and he may at least hesitate to do so.
The politician too will remember the damage to his car and think twice about eve-teasing. At the very least, he will not encourage such behaviour from his staffers for fear of incurring damages. And that in itself is a big deal considering the kind of misogynistic statements SP leaders have made in the past – like Mulayam Singh Yadav’s ‘Boys will be boys’ in response to a rape incident.
Every time men like these back down in the face of aggressive opposition, they learn that it doesn’t pay to behave like that.
Click below to watch a video of the episode.
Image Courtesy: BCCL
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