Female journalist faces harassment in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Female Journalist of a regional news portal had a very bad experience while travelling in a bus yesterday. It shows how the government machineries in the State, despite its promises, fail to provide safety to women.

Below is her experience shared on social media that shows the plight of women in the State.

The incident took place when she was returning from her village to the Capital city by Pattamundai-Gourishankar bus.

She described her ordeal to Odishatv.in saying, “While I was returning from my village, a man misbehaved with me in the bus for nearly one hour. Later, he went to a back seat and I took a window seat. After a short period he stretched his hand towards the window side. Suspecting his actions, I reprimanded him.

During all this no one in the bus said anything. Even the bus conductor asked me to seat quietly instead of taking any action. Following it I tried to call the police but was unable to connect, so I dialled the woman helpline of Commissionerate Police, given in Cuttack, 1091, but nobody responded to the call. Therefore, I posted the matter on social media.”

She further said, “I did not face any big issue, but I want to say that the facilities government has given us is useless. What is the use of the helpline number if they don’t respond a call? What is the system doing, it is giving a number but not providing any help.”