Within a year of the doctor’s rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, within a month of the 14-year-old’s rape and murder in Action Area 1, within a week of Women’s Day 2025, a stretch in New Town’s Action Area 2B has emerged as another high-risk zone for women.
The stretch in question is Street 622, particularly around the Mallika Malancha complex. It is perpendicular to the street jutting out of Eco Urban Village. Women claim that stray incidents of eve teasing had been going on for months here but that of late, it has become rampant.
“Last week I stepped out of our complex, on foot, thrice and every time I was harassed. Yesterday I faced it twice, while going out to buy vegetables and again while returning,” said Duhita Soni (name changed) on Saturday. “It’s started happening even when I’m accompanied by friends or my husband.”
It isn’t a single person but many who misbehave. “They ogle, zig-zag their bikes in front of us, sing songs and snigger. The other day my friends and I went to the ice cream stall opposite the Mallika Malancha gate and some youths came near us, started sniggering and mimicking what we were saying,” she said. “We were so uncomfortable!”
Ring of fear
Sonalika Prasad said she has never been harassed like this before. “And so I cannot accept that I am now facing this at my doorstep,” says the Mallika Malancha resident who returns from office in the evening and walks over to her parents’ place at Sunrise Symphony on the same street.
“I’ve been living here for seven years and it was quite peaceful till two years ago. Now there are too many illegal shanties that are attracting the wrong crowd. They spill over with outsiders, who blow clouds of smoke and spread themselves to block three-fourths of the road. And they ogle at the women walking by,” she said, demanding that the encroachment be removed. “Police patrolling is missing too.”
Sharmeen Syed (name changed) hails from Uttar Pradesh and has lived in Gurgaon, too, before moving to New Town during the pandemic. “Those places are terrible for women and so upon coming to Calcutta I felt so free. But since the past one year, I am being repeatedly shocked and disappointed,” she sighed.
“It’s rare now to walk out of Malika Malancha and not have lumpens ogling, catcalling, or singing songs at us. Many schoolgirls walk for tuitions to neighbouring high rises here and as mothers, we are worried about their safety. The bikes here are picking up speed around us and doing dangerous stunts. A few months ago one such bike, with four riders, even hit my friend,” says Syed.
The women also blame labourers working at the multiple under-construction buildings in the area. On February 21, The Telegraph Salt Lake had published the article “Dark & deadly”, identifying spots that could be hunting grounds for snatchers, muggers as well as sex offenders, and multiple residents had pointed at under-construction sites near Street 622.
“We want CCTV surveillance, better lighting around Eco Urban Village, a police outpost, and frequent patrolling here,” said Soni. “Above all, we want illegal encroachment out so this crowd cannot gather here in the first place. Else who knows, what’s started with eve-teasing can lead to worse crimes later.”
Action wanted
Sharmistha Ghosh, a resident of Malika Malancha, said it was unimaginable to be discussing women’s harassment in Calcutta a few decades ago. “I used to return from college at 11pm and never did I face a problem. And now incidents like RG Kar are taking place. We all took part in the protest marches too but still our city is discussing problems that one associates with Delhi and Noida. We need constant patrolling by the police, punishment for the offenders and an end to the shanties in the first place.”
Banashree Samal is a resident of Hiland Willows on the same stretch and knows of others who face similar problems. “The area becomes an open club after dark and women need to be alert,” says the black belt karateka who has herself complained to the police about it. She and her friends have in fact started a trust, Beyond the Books, and their most urgent objective is teaching women self-defence. “If ladies on this stretch come forward we can teach them self-defence moves in the park opposite Eco Urban Village.”
Soni has complained to the police, too, but only over phone. “I do not want to lodge a formal complain or give my name in writing as I fear getting targeted by the men,” she said. She has now decided to stop going out on foot in fear.
Official speak
After The Telegraph Salt Lake informed the authorities of the situation, police patrolling began. On Wednesday evening, there was a patrol jeep parked at the mouth of the Eco Urban Village lane and police personnel, male and female, were walking around the junction.
At least 15 motorbikes were parked outside the shanties with the riders leaning against the seats and chatting or eating snacks. But with the police making their presence felt, one felt safe.
A senior NKDA official advised the Mallika Malancha residents to come in a group to the NKDA office and lodge a complaint with the civic authorities about the encroachment. “A written complaint will help us deal with the issue,” he said.
An Eco Park police station officer claimed ignorance about the problem. “No one has raised the issue with us,” he claimed. “We do have patrol cars on the move. If a complaint is lodged with us, even anonymously, we will look into the problem,” he said.
After the rape and murder of the 14 year old girl near the Loha Pool, the Bidhannagar Commissionerate has decided to increase CCTV coverage of the area. A senior officer of the commissionerate noted the problem area from The Telegraph Salt Lake. “We will increase patrol and see whether CCTV coverage would be required in the area. But for the encroachments to be removed, the NKDA and Hidco will have to take action,” he said.