Saying it with flowers: harassment inside autos is never okay

The rickshaw adorned with flowers that was parked near Chetna College, Bandra East on Wednesday. Pic/Shadab Khan

Radio City attempted to create awareness about the harassment faced by women commuters in share auto rickshaws via its campaign Touch Me Not, on Wednesday in Bandra East, which is notorious for share auto complaints. The campaign seeks to stress the message that women commuters should not have to tolerate inappropriate behaviour while travelling via share autos.

A passer-by participates in Radio City's Touch Me Not campaign. Pic/Prasun Choudhari

As part of the programme, an auto rickshaw adorned with flowers was parked in front of Chetna College. It bore a sign that read, ‘Pick a flower if in a shared auto you have felt unsafe, been molested, touched inappropriately'. The message resonated with many women travellers. Alka Jadhav, a commuter, said, "This campaign is proving to be an excellent platform for women commuters and they will be able to speak up about the difficulties they have to face while travelling." Many male commuters and auto rickshaw drivers also picked a flower to show their support for the cause.

‘Campaign is a stepping stone'

Actress Yami Gautam Dhar in a phone conversation with Radio City team said, "#TouchMeNot is a necessary movement and I believe that it will be known as a stepping stone in women's protection and will play a great role in creating a difference in the near future."

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mid-day on September 7 ran a story ‘Auto drivers have been told to eject harassers', shedding light on the month-long campaign being run by Radio City. With the number of cases of harassment in share autos increasing day by day, the campaign received a huge response from across the board, with average commuters, film stars and Mumbai's top cops voicing appreciation.

Satyanarayan Chaudhary, joint commissioner of police, Law and Order, told Radio City that the response time of the Nirbhaya squad, a specially assigned unit for the protection of women, is less than seven minutes. He also said that any complaint made via the helpline numbers 103 and 100 would be dealt with positively and swiftly.