Monalisa Patsani
Bhubaneswar, Sept 18: According to data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the North-east is the safest place for women in India. Among states in the North-east Nagaland tops the list in being the most secured place for women. The figures show only 67 cases of crimes against women being reported from the state, which is the lowest in the country in the period studied by the report. Nagaland also has the lowest rate of total cognizable crimes.
Although Orissa doesn’t feature on top of the NCRB list students from the North-east staying in Bhubaneswar feel that the city, at least, is a very suitable place for female students and working employees.
Baishali Tamuly from Assam is a student of National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. She said, “I have been staying in Orissa since 2010. I was a student at Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar and during my four-year stay in the city the only thing I had to really struggle against was the weather. As far as passing cheap comments on girls or eve-teasing are concerned I have never come across any such unsavoury incident.”
“The situation in Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal or Meghalaya may be safe and secure for women but Assam is a different story altogether. I am from Assam and I think Bhubaneswar is safer than Guwahati, especially for girls. Rape cases are very frequent in Guwahati compared to Bhubaneswar. No state is immune to crime but Bhubaneswar is certainly better than cities like Delhi or Patna,” she added.
Josna Sonowal is from Nagaland and has recently secured admission in Regional Institute of Education in the BA B.Ed four-year integrated course. It’s been only one month and she has already started experiencing the difference between her state and Orissa like the climate, cuisine and sartorial tastes. “It has been only one month and I have realised that there are certain things we need to avoid in this city. In Nagaland we never had any restriction regarding dress but here we can’t wear certain kinds of dresses we used to wear freely back home. Even my seniors from Nagaland told me to avoid sleeveless dress, as people here are very conscious about it. Here people are very busy so they mostly don’t bother about what is happening in and around them whereas in Nagaland we greet everyone with a smile.”
Most girls from the North-east in the city believe that Bhubaneswar is comparatively better than other cities in the country. “Though I feel safe in the city one thing I don’t like is that people often stare at girls in a very strange way. Even if we are properly dressed they make us feel as if we are roaming around naked. We are not used to such stares in my state. I have never experienced such a thing nor have heard any friend facing any such uneasiness in the North-east,” said Pratiksha Sharma, first-year B.Sc student from Sikkim.
Bipasha Das from Tripura said, “I used to travel all alone from tuition to home at 10.30 pm in my hometown but here we can’t do that. Travelling during daytime is safe here but we can’t think of going outside during the night. In Bhubaneswar we mostly travel in groups to avoid any untoward incident.”
