One of the men who groped me literally looked me in the eye [during the act],” says one woman. Another fan recalls how when she asked a man for directions to the exit after she was molested, he “smiled and proceeded to grope me himself”. Such horrifying experiences have been pouring out in news reports as well as on social media from those who attended music composer AR Rahman’s concert on September 10 in Chennai.

Concerts and live performances that attract massive crowds by virtue of star power always hold a black hole of potential sexual harassers and assaulters at their centre. When mass outrage bursts, the safety of women and marginalised groups in large gatherings becomes a talking point—for a Mumbai minute—and is forgotten until the cycle repeats itself. Several women mid-day spoke to recounted coming out of concerts and occasions of mass recreation or celebration with literal and figurative scars.