Woman participates in 'One Billion Rising', then thrashes eve-teasers

At 10:30 pm at night in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, the four men who accosted a group of women to pass lewd comments about them must have thought they would get home scot free. Unfortunately, they didn’t gamble on one aspect, one of the women Amrita happened to be a trained practitioner of ancient martial art Kalaripayayuttu who helped For those who understand Malayalam here’s a widely viewed video of Amrita describing the events of the night, which incidentally took please on the night after she had attended a function as part of the One Billion Rising campaign that began yesterday. Interviewed by Asianet, Amruta described how she had gone out for snack to a local eatery with her parents and some family friends when a government vehicle stopped near them and the four men inside the vehicle made some comments about the women present there. [caption id=“attachment_627342” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: Youtube.[/caption] Since her father and his friend had stepped away to get food, a bold Amruta confronted them and after a brief exchange of words the vehicle sped away leaving her shouting after them to return and face her if they had courage. After some time the men in the vehicle reportedly returned and got into a scuffle with Amruta’s father at which point it became too much for the martial arts expert and she stepped in and took on the men, in the manner she knew best. “When he pushed my father I didn’t care any more who was looking, since anyway no assistance was forthcoming, so I pulled him to the ground and I did whatever I could do,” she said. It was only when she took on the men that others present there came to assist them, Amruta said. “If I hadn’t responded in the manner that I did then I would have had no pride in being a woman,” she said. On a day when the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign sought to highlight the plight of women in India and improve their condition, Amruta perhaps stands out for her courage and standing up for herself.