No queries on sexploitation, please!

AHMEDABAD: Wonder, police officers can be shy too! At least, when a lady reporter calls up, and the case involves a crime committed against women. As one of the reporters calls up a police personnel and tries to extract some details of a rape, molestation or sexual harassment case, the recurrent response she gets is: "Tamne kayi reeta bataavu? Arrey pan ae je thaye ae che. Tamne have kayi reete batavu, chokriyon ne pan have…" (How do I tell you? It is the same thing, which usually happens. How do I explain? Why do you girls need to know?). Objectivity matters; so the reporter persists: "Please tell me whether the boys passed comments, used abusive language, tried to harass the girl physically or tore her dress?" To this comes a reply in an embarrassed voice, "Yes, yes, the same thing. (And after a long pause), her clothes were torn off and they abused her physically." Now, on many occasions, if a case happens to involve a sex worker, the officials feel embarrassed to utter the word 'sex worker' even and would instead say that the concerned woman sells ‘dirty’ CDs. Intrigued, the reporter, in her attempt to know the reasons for such hesitations, later comes to know that the officers claim to feel shy and embarrassed to talk about molestations, rapes and even about women in prostitution.

Free entertainment for downtrodden

THE Kankaria lakefront is being touted as the entertainment hub of the mega city. But, for whom? Well, certainly not for the common man. Their worries for buying sugar and pulses (owing to price rise) have elbowed out chancing of having fun and entertainment. The other day, a civic official was saying that very few people from slum areas visit the spot. To let the underprivileged enjoy the place, he has suggested that one day a week be reserved exclusively for slum residents, when they can enjoy the lakefront free of charge. He argues that only then will the city be justified in claiming that it cares for the downtrodden. The feasibility of the idea remains to be explored.

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