Five lessons from the Rohtak sisters who thrashed their molesters

Army sources have been quick to deny that the Rohtak boys are ready to join the force. Apparently they have cleared only one of the three recruitment tests.

Thank God for some things we can continue to trust.

There are five lessons to be learnt from the fightback of the Rohtak girls. (Note to self and others in the media: please do not call them bravehearts. That cliche is well past its sell by date.)

1.) There is no such thing as eve-teasing. Just look at the way the young man in the striped sweater is fending off the enraged girls. This is not "teasing". This is plain, visceral aggression. Eve-teasing is a term used by society because it cannot face the ugly truth of sexual harassment. It is sexual harassment when someone detains a young woman in a lift against her will and it is sexual harassment when someone slaps a woman for wearing a short skirt.

2.) A cellphone can be a woman's best friend. It explains why khaps that ban a woman's freedom to wear what she wants and marry whom she wants, also think of a cellphone as the ultimate weapon of subversion. Whoever took that video and released it on the internet was doing a public service, even if he or she did not have the courage to openly defy the three goons.

3.) Our public institutions have failed us, and no matter how much time and money is poured into helplines like 1091, they simply will not work unless the people who work the lines are trained to respond effectively. What we need is better training for the staff behind existing helplines, not just money thrown into creating more white elephants. To that extent I am in agreement with the Narendra Modi government plan to abort the Rs 200 crore initiative to create rape centres in every district. I would recommend diverting that money to launch training programmes for staff hired for that specific purpose instead in existing hospitals and women police cells.

4.) Naming and shaming is the only way to stop sexual harassment. There was tremendous pressure on the two young women to keep quiet about their assailants. Good they didn't. The more such people are exposed, whether they are powerful editors or unemployed young men, the greater will be the deterrence.  

5.) The operators of public transport, whether is an auto rickshaw or a bus, have to be made as culpable as the assailants. The driver and conductor were supposed to drive the bus on which the young women were travelling to the nearest police station. They need to be booked for aiding and abetting the assault. It's a lesson no police force has learnt even after seeing the role of the private bus operators in the December 2012 gang rape.