I took the same route where the veterinary doctor was gang raped and brutally killed by 4 men in Hyderabad. I and so many more like me, feel scared to pass that road now.  Not just that road, almost every other road in the city is like that. 

Her last words were, “I feel scared!” and it breaks my heart to write that these are the same words that I hear from a lot of women.

Every time the media reports such crimes, the only thing that people outrage about is giving death to the perpetrators. No one addresses the basic issues that are a threat to women’s safety on streets on a daily basis.  

Simple, easy to do things like having pedestrian street lights on the roads is the need of the hour. Well lit streets are ranked highest by most women in terms of what improves their safety. Even the CCTV cameras that our city is so proud of, won’t be able to pick up video footage if there is no light, so what is the point of having those cameras? This problem needs to be fixed immediately. 

Please sign my petition so that women feel safe walking on the streets. 

Hyderabad has a problem of dark spots: places that are not properly lit. These dark spots are a menace to the city and our women. Women are subjected to, or are afraid of harassment, eve- teasing, cat calling, stalking, chain-snatching and sexual assault when they have to cross these dark spots. 

I cannot put down in words how scared we are to walk on unlit roads. Roads that have poor lighting are hostile towards women and in Hyderabad itself, media has reported that there are 50-60 dark spots with no lighting at all. An enquiry by the previous commissioner of GHMC also showed that there are 20,000 broken street lights in the city. 

Sign my petition asking the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to light up 60 dark spots in the city and repair the broken street lights on a priority basis. What are the authorities waiting for? Another crime? Another outrage?

Sign my petition so that Hyderabad sets an example for other cities when it comes to women’s safety. We owe it to the memory of the young veterinarian. Her death can’t and won’t go in vain. 

Let us shout for justice and along with it ensure that no other woman feels unsafe! Let’s take real measures to make the city safer for women. It is already too late, let us not delay further. 

All women everywhere need to feel safe.

(Image courtesy: HT Sunil Ghosh)