It seems that the vile crime of gang rape has turned into a new trend in India. The Delhi rape case that occurred last year caused great public outcry and furor. Mass protestations and candlelight marches have not been able to prevent gang rapes in public areas, moving vehicles or parking lots. Women are not just being raped by more than one person but they are also being killed in the most outrageous manner after being raped. The regular crimes committed against women have made it almost impossible for them to commute freely without any tension or worry. Four Indians have joined hands to provide Indian women a platform where they can share their experience and get information for safe traveling throughout the country.
Surya Velamuri, Elsa D’Silva, Saloni Malhotra, and Aditya Kapoor felt the need to caution women across the country about the unsafe areas where they can get molested and abused. They have created a website named SafeCity.in. This website attempts to provide women with an interactive map of India from which any woman will be able to find out the unsafe areas in her city. Women can lodge complaints and mark places where they have been sexually abused in some way. Women have to face both verbal and physical abuse while traveling to get to their workplace, market, school, college or home. There are many different types of mental and physical abuse that regular commuters face. Lewd comments are passed at women and sometimes they are chased by bikers. They get shoved and pinched at private body parts at crowded places. This website is trying to help women recognize the different forms of sexual abuses and fight back.
Surya Velamuri has said that their website is a platform for women to come forward and speak up against the abuses committed against them. They are hoping that women will feel free and safe to speak through the virtual platform than directly lodging complaint in the police station. The silence of women is one of the main causes behind the inactivity of the government. Women can use this website to caution each other, stand up for their rights and protest. In this website unsafe areas can be marked with the help of location tags for cautioning women. In one year 962 sexual crimes have been reported by women in this website.
