A Bengaluru woman named Poornima Prabhu shared how her daughter, in her twenties, bravely scared off two men on a bike who were harassing her. The incident happened just 800 meters from their home, and Poornima expressed pride in her daughter for standing up to the harassers.
“Last week my 20+ daughter was waiting to cross the road about 800m from our home in Bengaluru when two boys on a bike heckled her,” Prabhu wrote on X. “Her first reaction was to walk away but then decided to take action. She shouted at them and ran towards them. They took off on the bike as if the devil was pursuing them.”
“I’m so proud of my girl because at her age I’d have looked down and walked away as fast as possible,” she added. “This was in an area where almost everyone knew her. That’s what got her goat…. if I can’t walk in peace here…. what’s the point? There were so many people around.”
In a follow-up post, Poornima Prabhu shared that her daughter was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and ankle-length trousers, hoping to discourage any judgment based on her clothing. She encouraged other women to speak up against harassment, saying, “Do not keep quiet, don’t let your silence encourage such creeps.”
Many praised the daughter’s bravery, and when asked if she feared retaliation, Prabhu explained, “We have told them (her children) clearly about the how, when, what of reacting…. and how to keep themselves safe. Unless such people understand that girls are not going to take it silently, they will get emboldened even more.”
Many on social media supported Prabhu’s stance.
User Radhika (@rads) shared, “So I’ve done this way back in the 80s. kicked and punched fellows bothering us on buses, and screamed back at hecklers. Generally, I think we were a little more bold, or maybe the repercussions would not have been as bad as we hear now. But good on you for raising your daughter right!”
“Absolutely ma’am!” added Naturally Sudhaish (@NaturallySudha). “Keeping quiet doesn’t get us anywhere, it is about giving expression to the natural reaction that upsurges in such situations! Kudos to your girl.”
