Video: Two Sisters Fight Off Attackers on a Public Bus in India


Two sisters were filmed fighting a group of men who allegedly sexually harassed them while traveling on a public bus in northern India. The video was filmed by a fellow passenger and shows the sisters, identified as Arati and Pooja, beating and kicking the men.

“One of the boys started touching my sister and making kissing gestures,” Arati told the media. “I told him to go away or I would teach him a lesson. Then he called another boy saying that we have to beat up two girls. And then the other boy got on the bus.”

At several points the girls can be seen using their belts to hit them while onlookers do nothing to help the sisters. Several people can even be heard telling the girls not to file a formal complaint against the men.

The shocking recording, which has since gone viral and lead to the arrest of the three men, prompted a huge response on social media. But the incident highlights the continued lack of public awareness surrounding sexual harassment faced by young girls throughout India, where according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 93 women are raped everyday.

The video also recalls the 2012 Delhi gang-rape, in which a 23-year-old woman died after being brutally raped by a group of men on a city bus. The assault lead to massive protests calling for the government to legislate harsher punishment against sexual assaulters.

 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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