Girl Power Lives On

 

Girl Power Lives On

      Everyone knows that there are comfort levels when it comes to riding a public bus. You can either sit in one of the seats or you can stand while holding onto a rail so you don't fall. The bus can get very crowded, so many things can happen. In India, this is a usual thing for women and it is referred to as 'eve-teasing'. Usually, they are kept secret for fear that no one will believe or take the proper action against their harassers. When 2 Indian sisters were harassed on a bus going to the Rohtak district of the northern state of Haryana, they wasted no time fighting back.

 

      Aarti and Pooja Kumar, ages 19 and 22, were travelling on a public bus on Friday when they were being "threatened" and "abused". Aarti was standing at a bus stop near their college when some men came up to them and began taunting and throwing pieces of paper with their telephone numbers inside. The sisters tried to ignore the men but they persisted. Then, they followed the sisters onto the bus, Aarti said, where the harassment continued.

"You're too poor to even ride the bus," Kumar recalled the men saying.

      When no one else on the bus tried to help them fend off the insults, the girls hit back and hit back hard. A video was recorded by another passenger on the bus that shows a man trying to intervene as the girls whipped, kicked, punched and pulled at one of the alleged assailants, even using their belts as defense. Some passenger on the bus did nothing, while other told the girls to get off the bus or they would get serious consequences brought onto them.

 

      As the video took to Twitter, it sparked widespread praise on social media. under the hashtag #RohtakBravehearts, people have been voicing their support for the girls.

"I would like to congratulate the girls and ask the authorities to take proper action," Lalitha Kumarmangulam, spokeswoman for the Indian government's National Commission for Women said. "Few girls have the guts to take on their molesters. The government should take action. I would appeal to every Indian to come forward and help."

 

      Police arrested and charged the 3 men on Sunday, 2 days after the girls' parents filed a complaint. The driver and conductor of the bus were suspended. In a highly unusual turn, the government is rewarding the Kumar sisters for their actions. Haryana's Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced the sisters would be recognized with "bravery" awards that include cash on January 26, India's Republic Day.

 

Sources for this article were found on cnn.com, washingtonpost.com and bbc.com.