A week has passed after a 26-year-old woman was accosted and stalked in Samarpally along Kestopur Canal, but residents and commuters continue to be gripped by fear.

Samarpally is where one lands after crossing the route 206 bus stand footbridge at the edge of Salt Lake’s AJ Block.

On February 6, at around 9.30pm a girl had crossed this footbridge on her way to her paying guest accommodation when she got tailed by a car with drunk men inside. For the next 20 minutes, she tried slipping in and out of lanes, trying to lose them, but they were always a step ahead, harassing and jeering at her.

The desperate girl finally forced her way into a stranger’s house when she saw someone opening the door. The house owner later dropped her home safely, after which a police complaint was lodged and the men arrested.

But the incident has sent shockwaves through Kestopur.

Drinking in the open

“No female is safe anymore — neither grandma nor infant, neither PG nor vendor,” says Malina Biswas, a roti seller at the foot of the 206 bridge.

The girl, who was stalked, had stopped to buy rotis that night when headlights of the offenders’ car first blinded her eyes.

“We get a stream of customers till 12.30am but after this incident my sister-in-law and I, who run this shop, are scared for our own safety. We are getting jittery by 10.30pm now and are forced to turn away customers and hurry home.”

All the vendors of the area have decided to pack up early and leave in a big group.

The Kestopur side of the canal is riddled with potholes. The base of the footbridges is lively due to shops, commuters and rickshaws but a few meters down the road the streetlights dim out. The bank of the canal has wild growth and at about 9pm on Sunday, The Telegraph Salt Lake saw several men jump over the short fence between the road and the canal bank near Vaishno Devi Academy school, and disappear into the dark.

“They go there to drink and smoke pot,” said a college student who lives in the area. “This has been going on for years. The police has been informed, councillors have been summoned but they pay no heed. Why, they’ve even set up a cot by the water to sit comfortably!”

Another resident explains why the stretch is dark in patches. “These men pelt stones and break the bulbs fixed to streetlights. They want it to be dark so they can drink without been noticed. They make lewd remarks at passing women but the women are helpless,” said the man, who himself has a teenage daughter.

Sunandan Karmakar, a resident who works in Salt Lake and has to cross the footbridge regularly, suggests installing CCTVs and assigning guards along the road to make pedestrians feel safer.

Shame and disgust

Residents are shocked not just at the February 6 incident but also at learning that four of the five offenders are their immediate neighbours.

“My husband has grown up with one of the offenders,” says a lady of the neighbourhood. “They have brought shame to Samarpally. Our locality used to be safe and respectable but who knew we lived with such perverts! From now on, if a neighbour comes calling, I’ll have to think twice before letting him in.”

Another lady says all women of the area are frightened. “Our children’s female tuition teachers are feeling uneasy about coming for evening classes,” she says.

Since rent in Kestopur is less than in Salt Lake and New Town, IT sector employees from out of town often choose to live as PG here. Due to odd timings, many return home late at night but rickshaw drivers say they are no longer ready to walk even short distances to get home. “They ask us to take them even for short distances till the doorstep,” said one.

Lights make Salt Lake safer

The Salt Lake side of Kestopur Canal is a mixed bag. The canal bank, roughly from AA to AE Block, was beautified last year and so the trees are trimmed, walkway paved and swings and sculptures installed. Most importantly it is well lit up and is fenced.

The gates open from 5am to 8pm during which time guards patrol its length on bicycles. Lights from the park illuminate the rest of the road. No wonder that even past 9pm on Sunday The Telegraph Salt Lake saw the odd evening walker go past and a few youths chatting and cycling.

“This stretch has got safer over the years what with the jungle by the bank getting cleared out. Many small offices have come up on the ground floor of houses here and they all have security guards. So women walk on their own here from early morning to late at night,” says Agnela Singh, whose AE Block house oversees the canal road.

But the scenario changes drastically once the beautified green verge ends. The stretch crossing the erstwhile Deer Park, the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics etc are deserted. Should a miscreant commit a crime here, it’s unlikely anyone would even be around to hear the victim’s screams.

“I know of women’s gold chains and purses getting snatched on this stretch,” said Tanaya Halder of CF Block, who was crossing the Baisakhi bridge.

Ashima Pal, who lives in the nearby slum, said police patrol was negligible. “Previously we would feel safer walking past as senior citizens would be sitting on their balconies and keeping an eye out. Even that has stopped now due to mosquitoes.”

Police files

After the February 6 incident, the police claims to have pulled up their socks. “We have deployed plainclothes officers, civic police as well as uniformed personnel along Kestopur canal side. Police cars are also regularly patrolling there. That place is now a sensitive area and we are always alert.”

K. Sabari Rajkumar, deputy commissioner, detective department, Bidhannagar Commissionerate, says they are holding interactions with residents to keep track of goings-on. “A police booth is stationed in the area and we have CCTV cameras on both sides of Baisakhi footbridge. People should come forward and inform us about incidents and complains so we can act on them.”

Inputs from Showli Chakraborty