On safety and women

Kalpana Sharma writes a column in The Hindu (on Sundays) called The Other Half. This week's column starts like this:

I WAS hoping that my last column for this year would not have to deal with the dreaded R word — rape. But the horrific rape and murder of a call centre employee, Prathiba Murthy, by a taxi driver in Bangalore on December 16 has forced me to address this eternal issue yet again. More so because of a heartfelt e-mail by a young reader. I am quoting sections of the mail from this young woman as I suspect this is what several others would have felt when they read about Prathiba's rape and murder:

"Today, when I read about Prathiba, I couldn't believe it. Dear Ms. Sharma, I don't suppose you can answer me but will it all ever end — will there be a day when we do not have rapes? For the first time, after reading about a rape and murder, I simply broke down. I feel absolutely hypocritical and shallow about how normal my day is — I couldn't eat much today — but can we do anything about it?

Read the complete column: Can women ever be safe?