The recent incident of a group of boys injuring a man who tried to stop them from teasing a girl after a late night film show once again brings into focus the issue of safety of women in the city. The real question is whether the city is ready for a night life which is not only confined to late night weddings, private parties and film shows.

The trend of a rocking night life is still in its nascent stages in the city, thanks to two decades of militancy which forced residents to stay indoors after sunset.

With night life becoming commonplace in the city, the incidents of eve teasing too are on the rise.

SSP R K Jaiswal said, “It is not possible to deploy the police in every nook and corner of the city. Public places like malls, cinema halls and multiplexes have private security guards and it becomes the duty of the security personnel on duty to see that law and order is maintained on their premises.

If they feel that the situation is going out of control, they should inform the police.”

Neelu Singh, a young professional, said, “The city is not safe for women. Once, I had gone to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in the night and on my way back a man stalked me and made lewd remarks. Though I was in the car, yet I felt scared as there was no one on the road. The worst was that I could not get out of my car as the person followed me till my house. I had to dodge him to enter my house.”

A professional, Raunak Kapoor, said, “I have come from Chandigarh to work here. Earlier, we used to spend our weekends out and return late in the night but every time, we were followed by someone who followed us all the way home. One day the situation turned worse and we had to get down at somebody else’s home to seek help.”