While the politicians prepare themselves for the upcoming Karnataka elections, the local women of the state are gearing themselves up to protest against those leaders who disappointed them in the last term.

Sexual harassment (online trolls and physical assault) cases are common in the region and many a time, the complaints initiated by the women aren’t taken seriously. According to Swarna Bhat, general secretary of Grakoos, a grassroots organization that works for the upliftment of women, liquor consumption is one of the major causes behind the crime. She says, “We pressured the Congress to make a promise but the CM was against it. JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy did not say it openly but said he would consider prohibition if he came to power.”

With unsure answers like these, the women are now considering NOTA (None of the above) in elections as their vote. All this to ensure they don’t choose a leader who doesn’t consider their safety a priority.

In January 2018, 20-year-old Dhanyashree from Mudigere town of Chikmagalur committed suicide after she was harassed on social media by Bajrang Dal activists for being friends with Muslims. To protest against the case, 43-year-old Bharati Bolar posted on her Facebook page – “I love Muslims.” Result? Her pictures got inappropriately morphed and were circulated all over the internet.

Bharati was courageous enough to reach the police despite there not being any support of her family. Fortunately, the police caught the culprits – Balakrishna Poojary, 48, a bus driver, and Satish Shetty, 30, administrator of a WhatsApp group titled “Makuri.” While Poojary ended up losing his job, Shetty was refrained from traveling to the Middle East where he was employed.

Bantwal Town sub-inspector H V Chandrashekhar says, “After we registered a couple of cases, including the complaint by Bharati, and arrested people involved in this kind of harassment on social media, these incidents have come to a halt because people have realized that they can be punished. They used to do it under the impression that there is anonymity.”

The situations are getting better but slowly. It is not just the families of the victim, even the fellow villagers often step back when it comes to voicing the crime. Bharati hopes that the upcoming election will assure the protection of fellow women. She says, “When police are fair and objective, people get justice. The Dakshina Kannada SP ensured my case was investigated and the culprits were arrested.”

h/t: Indian Express