The rape of a medical trainee in Kolkata has made the country question workspace safety measures for women, particularly those working late shifts. This has seen many celebrities taking the girl’s side and calling for better protection for women. Alia Bhatt wrote a series of notes in which she did not only condemn rape. But also showed statistical data on the increasing cases of sexual assault.
In one of her social media posts, Alia Bhatt said, “Another gruesome rape. Another day when women realize that they are never safe anywhere at all. Another shocking atrocity just to remind us it is over ten years since Nirbhaya happened and nothing much has changed.” The next note referred to statistics and stated that “Let the numbers speak: 30% out of India doctors are females. While 80% of our nursing staffs are female. In an atmosphere where violence against medical personnel is growing, it is the females who are more vulnerable. Since 2022 there has been a 4% rise in crimes against women with over 20% involving violent rape assaults. There were almost 90 reported rapes per day in India during this year. National Crime Records Bureau report 2022”.
She further posed a question about women’s safety asking herself, “How can any woman feel? How do we go to work or even have our daily lives when this is on our minds? This awful incident reminded us once more how disproportionately burdened women are with being responsible for their own safety.” “Despite countless crimes committed against them and suffered by many women. There is no real answers or hope that anything will change about this situation. We couldn’t help her, but maybe we can prevent it from happening again. My request to the powers that be… – FOCUS on the safety of women. FOCUS on creating safe spaces and increased avenues of security; FOCUS on why it happens. The writing is on the wall that something is fundamentally wrong with the way our society currently works. These repetitive inhuman acts towards women show that there is something wrong on a much deeper level. And unless we go deep into it and eliminitate the source, nothing will change!” she added.
This was followed by a finisher, “Don’t tell women to change their path – change the terrain. Every woman deserves better.” The actress received support from her fans as well some industry insiders who expressed their concerns about the incident.
For those who do not know, this case refers to the one of a second year medical trainee in Kolkata who was discovered raped and murdered at her place of work after taking a nap before beginning her shift. This led to nationwide protests as doctors took to the streets demanding justice for her. While many across India started questioning safety measures provided for females at workplaces.
