Shahjahanpur’s ‘Bandookwali aunty’ spells terror for harassers of women

SHAHJAHANPUR: Popularly known as ‘Bandookwali aunty’, Shahana Begum is like a mother for girls living in Mahanandpur and neighbouring villages in Sindhauli block of Shahjahanpur. She is a symbol of terror for eve-teasers and her presence in the village has done what the police haven’t been able to. No complaint of eve-teasing or sexual assaults on women has been reported from Mahanandpur village for quite a long while.According to local residents, the girls feel safe because they know that they have someone to protect them.
Shahana Begum, 42, a mother of two girls herself, said that she applied for an arms licence to protect her own girls. “The circle of protection kept growing as my daughters’ friends, their friends and acquaintances, etc kept growing,” she said.
Meticulously cleaning her double-barrel gun as she sat on a charpoy, Begum said, “I have seen the 1990s when the women had to move from pillar to post to get a complaint registered against their assaulters. I have seen young girls committing suicide because they got no support from anyone. I was quite young at that time and had lost my husband. I was all alone and feared anything could happen to my children. Even my relatives could have taken advantage of my precarious situation. That’s when I decided to fight for myself as well as others. My efforts were recognized by former CM Mayawati who got an arms licence approved for me.”
Alleh Nabi, a villager, told TOI, “Nobody dares to pass any comment on any girl in this village. This is because of Shahana Begum’s presence. I do not remember any eve-teasing or sexual harassment case being reported from our village.”
Kiran Devi, 21, a resident of the same village, finds ‘Bandookwali aunty’ to be her role model. “In this village, girls and women roam around even during late evening hours. Her presence in the village has brought about this change. She has fought every case of crime against women here for decades now. Gradually, there was a decline in such cases.”
Yatindra Bhardwaj, station officer of Sindhauli police station, told TOI, “I have taken charge here just a month and a half ago and have heard about this woman, who carries a gun all the time. It is also true that no cases of crime against women have been reported from this village for quite a while.”
However, the cop added that this village isn’t lone such village from where no such cases are reported. “There are many other villages where no crime is reported against women and there are no such woman in those villages,” he added.