Navratri ends with 16 cases of harassment at Garba venues
Record 23 women seek help in Ahmedabad
Updated: Oct 13th, 2024
As the nine holy nights of Navratri come to an end, the state which has been portrayed as ‘safe’ was grappled with concerning incidents of rape and harassment.
According to reports, a total of 16 incidents of harassment of women at Garba venues were reported this year. The SHE team swung into action after receiving complaints and caught the perpetrators, rescuing the women at the venues.
Despite the claims of robust safety arrangements by the state’s Home Department and police, three incidents of rape were reported in nine days in Vadodara, Surat, and Kutch.
The women’s safety helpline, 181, received 16 calls reporting harassment at Garba venues, with Ahmedabad recording the highest number of 5 calls, followed by Surat and Bhavnagar with 2 calls each, while Amreli, Anand, Dahod, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Kutch, and Rajkot reported 1 call each.
Moreover, 13 women called for help due to harassment at Garba venues, and 15 women sought help to reach home safely.
A total of 2 women from Ahmedabad, and 1 each from Botad and Surat, sought assistance from female police officers late at night to get home.
In Ahmedabad, 5 calls were received in the women’s helpline regarding harassment, 2 for help to get home, 8 related to stress, and 3 for general information, making a total of 23 calls.
18% increase in accidents
Amid the chaotic traffic, accident cases increased in Gujarat. In comparison with last year’s injuries due to accidents which were 487, it increased to 500.
A total of 4,489 injury-related cases were reported this Navratri depicting an increase of 18% in vehicular accident injury cases during Navratri compared to regular days.
However, the emergency service ‘108’ shows relief in non-vehicular emergency cases during Navratri. On regular days, an average of 274 heart-related emergency cases are registered per day, compared to 262 during Navratri. A total of 217 heart-related emergencies were reported in 2023.
In comparison, last year’s daily average was 264 for breathing issues which rose to 398 cases per day this Navratri.
Also read:
Navratri nightmare after woman returning from garba event is raped in Kutch
Third accused in Surat’s Mangrol gang-rape case caught trying to flee state
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