Travelling in the Metro at odd hours have never been easy for me. I get down at Sector 10 Metro station in Dwarka. I also wonder why there is no light outside the station. It is very unsafe for commuters including women.
I want to share my stories of eve-teasing outside metro stations and how insecure I feel because of these spaces being dimly lit.
Yesterday, I came back from work with the clock barely a few ticks shy of 8.30 pm. The only few feeble strands of light that fell on the fairly dark and desolate stretch outside the Sector 10 Metro station at that hour were from the bulbs installed on a ceiling at the entrance.
There was no crowd in the distance, as not even any of the rickshaw pullers and an e-rickshaw driver was there because of the rain. I started searching for e-rickshaw. I walked a bit out of the metro station to find one. It was near impossible to find an auto in that area at that hour.
So, I walked a bit to get one but while walking in the dim light lane, I was followed and teased by an old man at a dark lane right outside the metro station and I was scared of getting followed by him and he kept on teasing me, "ghar chor du, aajao chor du."
After this, I got scared and started walking fast, then an e-rickshaw rolled in. As I was about climb into the e-rickshaw to feel safe and relaxed, with the blink of eye, he came close and said, "Abhi bhi aajao mai chor deta hoon." Then I shouted at him, the driver also turned around and ran away as quickly as possible.
When I got into the rickshaw the only thing that came to my mind is the realisation that a lot of other women would have also gone through what I did. After 8 pm, roads outside many metro stations transform into a place for robbery, harassment and molestation.
The Sector 10 Metro station, on the Blue Line, wears a deserted look after 8 pm. And adding to this how unsafe ambience is the fact that the stretch is pitch dark at that hour with only a few fleeting rays from
the dull bulbs at the station's entrance offering anything in the way of illumination. It is really not safe for any commuters.
