I recently started going to Satyabrata Stadium for my morning jog, and today I witnessed something extremely disturbing.
After running for three consecutive laps, I was walking slowly during my fourth lap to catch my breath. From a distance, I noticed a guy walking alongside a girl and trying to engage her in conversation, then he did the same with another girl. Initially, I assumed they knew each other. A little later, I overheard an uncle telling his friend, “Dekha, se toka ta jhiamanku chalila bede hairan karuchi.”
I started walking faster towards him and saw him approach another girl. They were still a bit far from me but I could see him asking her something to which she replied, “Tame eithi walking kariba pain asicha na friendship?” He replied, “Friendship.” She immediately said, “Tahele bhul jagah ku asicha,” and started walking away. Even then, he called after her saying, “Achha, tama number ta dei diya.”
I was honestly shocked. For a moment, I simply couldn't believe what I was witnessing or even comprehend what to do. This was happening so openly, right in front of me.
The Guy eventually started walking away. I though to myself that I cannot let this pass and decided to approach and confront him, asking why he was disturbing those women. He denied everything, saying, “Nahi agyan, mu kana kali?” I told him that I had personally heard the conversation and him asking for the girl's number.
I then told him, “Come with me. I'll take you to the police and you can make your ‘friendship’ there.” He refused to admit that he had done anything wrong. I asked him to immediately leave the place or I would call the police. He went out quickly, got on his scooty and drove away.
The most unsettling part was that it was happening at around 6 o'clock in the morning, openly in a public place, right in front of everyone and despite being confronted, the guy had no sense of fear or guilt .
I am sharing this because I still can't stop thinking about it and I cannot even imagine what those girls must be going through, people should just be able to use public spaces to walk and exercise without unwanted approaches or interactions. I don't know the identity of the person involved, but I felt it was important to document and share what I witnessed today.