Lavanya Anand, 28, a migrant worker from Jharkhand who works at an office in Maharashtra's Pune, is a frequent commuter from the busy Swargate bus depot. She sometimes even takes the same route as the 26-year-old woman who was allegedly raped inside a parked state-run bus last week.
“I lived in New Delhi before this and always thought Maharashtra was safer for women in that way. But look at this — this is almost like the Nirbhaya case,” Anand tells The Quint.
The incident occurred at the crack of dawn on 25 February at the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)'s Swargate bus terminus, just a few metres away from the local police station. After a prolific “manhunt” that lasted over 60 hours, the accused, 37-year-old Dattatreya Ramdas Gade, was arrested from a field in Shirur district where he lives.
Relieved as she was after the arrest, Anand says that the incident (and its aftermath) has left her triggered. “I don’t know any girl or woman my age or older who hasn’t faced such things like groping, harassment or at least verbal abuse in public spaces, including myself," she tells The Quint.
"In most cases, there is no space to 'scream' as the minister said, or to even react. Violence can leave one debilitated.”Lavanya Anand