Visakhapatnam: Vizag, the tourism hub in Andhra Pradesh, is now witnessing a rise in cases of flashing and eve-teasing.
The increasing incidents of eve-teasing at the tourist spots in the city is worrying tourists from parts of Andhra Pradesh, neighbouring Odisha and West Bengal.
The tourists said eve-teasers were tarnishing the image of Vizag, in the absence of police at the tourist place. City police officials planned to form ‘She’ police teams for the safety of women but it could not become a reality as there are no women staff in the police force.
It is not just roadside youths but even students of various colleges are also involved in eve-teasing. Eve-teasing is more prominent at MVP Colony, RK Beach, Rushikonda, Tenneti Park, Madhurawada and PM Palem areas, apart from Asilmetta Junction, Gajuwaka and Kancharapalem areas.
“A group of youngsters used indecent words in Hindi and English to tease us while we were enjoying at the beach near Tenneti Park. They also entered into a heated argument with us when we questioned their behaviour,” said Sangee-tha Das, a tourist from Bhubaneswar, who came to Vizag to watch IPL matches. Police should deploy women cops in plain clothes at crowded places to check eve-teasing, she suggested.
Another tourist said: “I was walking back to my hotel room at MVP Colony when a youth, on a bike, stopped and daringly groped her. The staring looks shocked me and I did not note down the vehicle’s number.”
The officials of the tourism sector too agreed that youths have been harassing tourists and at times, even trying to molest them. If police fail to address the issue, eve-teasers will dent the image of Vizag and will affect the tourism industry.
Police officers Amit Garg and Dr C.M. Trivikrama Varma, who was recently transferred to Vizag, have planned to set up ‘She’ police teams, on the lines of Hyderabad police to act swiftly on the complaints on harassment of women in public places in Vizag. However, their plans haven’t finalised due to shortage of women police in Vizag police commissonerate.
A senior police officer said that only a few cases of eve-teasing were reported in the city but that a special squad would be formed to crack down on eve-teasers in the city. “Our teams will identify most vulnerable places and will keep a constant vigil on those places for the safety of women.”
