Bengaluru: With instances of attack on women increasing across the nation, pepper spray has always been a reliable weapon for women for self-defense. However, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) came under fire for confiscating the spray from women boarding the metro.
Close on the heels of many protesting against the same-both offline and online, the BMRCL has now decided to allow the women to carry these sprays along with them.
BL Yeshwanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL, told ‘The Hindu’ that the corporation’s security department has gone over the issue and has decided to okay it. He also said that all security staff at the station have been now directed to allow women to carry pepper sprays.
Earlier, the security staff at some stations had confiscated the same considering it as inflammable. However, none protested until the gruesome rape and murder case of a Hyderabad-based veterinarian took place recently.
Rakshit S Ponnathpur, a public policy researcher at NLSUI, Bengaluru had tweeted” “Dear @cpronammametro, why is your security staff confiscating pepper sprays from women in a few stations? You can’t arbitrarily deny women access to a handy self-defense mechanism, when they have to resort to alternative modes of transport as well, to reach their destinations! Are these arbitrary decisions taken by security staff or is it a BMRCL rule? Will your staff take responsibility for the safety of women commuters when they make them exit the stations after disarming them with the one self-defense option they had at their disposal?”
Many others too joined voice and now the BMRCL has responded to the demand to not confiscate the spray positively.
