Odisha Bikerni Vroom Against Sexual Abuse

Bhubaneswar: Roaring with rage against sexual harassment, members of Odisha Bikerni are coming together on Sunday morning to urge women to express their indignation loud and clear.

The ‘Ride Against Molestation’ will begin from Sandy’s Tower at 6:30 am. They will pass through Jaydev Vihar, Red Cross Square, Ram Mandir, Vani Vihar, Acharya Vihar, before completing the lap at Sandy’s Tower.

This nationwide campaign is being organized by the Biking Community of India, based in Delhi. “It started a month ago and is drawing to a close tomorrow,” said Odisha Bikerni Sangita Sahoo in an interaction with Odisha Bytes.

The objective is to bring biking communities of India together so that they can raise their voice against this grave crime, the victims of which are innocent little girls, she added.

“Tomorrow morning, more than 50 cities will witness the bike rally. In all, more than 5,000 people are coming together for this. Though separated by distance, we are united by the cause,” Sangita expressed.

For past one month, they have been visiting schools and slums educating girls and boys, especially those in the 3-12 age group. “It’s sad as we have to demonstrate and teach girls as young as three about good and bad touch,” said Sangita, referring to recent incidents in the nation.

Educating and creating awareness among parents were the most difficult part of it, she said.

Taking advantage of their image of being ‘cool’, Odisha Bikerni grabbed this opportunity to raise the state’s concern on the matter. They are also planning to coming up with small videos on self defence to educate young boys and girls.

“This will be an ongoing campaign to bring about a revolution. Every woman needs to raise voice against molestation. Even shouting back at someone staring at you or touching you in a crowd can be a great step!” said the ‘badass’ bikerni.

Earlier this year, they dressed up as Goddess Lakshmi in traditional Odissi attire to celebrate Akshay Tritiya and voice their discontent against Kathua rape case and others alike.

Sangita will also soon come up with ISR (Individual Social Responsibility) so as to bring about changes on the individual level.