Police hold self-defence camp for girls at Noida Stadium

The Gautam Budh Nagar police organised a three-day self-defence camp for girls from March 5 to 7 to commemorate the International Women’s Day on March 8, officials said on Monday

The Gautam Budh Nagar police organised a three-day self-defence camp for girls from March 5 to 7 to commemorate the International Women’s Day on March 8, officials said on Monday.

Nearly 100 girls from government schools and villages participated in the camp organised at Noida Stadium in Sector 21A. (Sunil Ghosh /HT)

The officials said that almost 100 girls from nearby government schools and villages participated in the camp which was organised at Noida Stadium in Sector 21A.

“The camp has been held every year around the International Women’s Day since 2015. This year, we started with about 50 girls on the first day of the camp, but by the third day, the camp had a participation of almost 100 girls in the age group of 12 to 16 years after word spread about it,” said Ankita Sharma, assistant commissioner of police, Noida-1.

The aim of the camp was to make young girls self-reliant in self-defence, Sharma said, adding that the girls were trained in various techniques and combat skills to defend themselves in case of an attack.

The training was given by Kamal Thapa who holds self-defence classes at Noida Stadium and is also a martial arts teacher at a private school in Sector 27. He said that he has been the trainer for the camp organised by the Noida police for the past seven years.

“The self-defence training and techniques are important to defend oneself. The girls were trained physically as well as mentally to increase their confidence. They were taught how to first promptly assess the threat and then apply the techniques,” said Thapa.

“There are instances when women are harassed. We trained them on how to defend themselves if confronted with a knife or a gun wielding attacker. We also trained them in hand-to-hand combat,” said Thapa.

15-year-old Alya Raj, one of the participants at the camp, said that she often feels the need to learn self-defence techniques when she is out with her friends past dark.

“Over the last three days, we were taught how to attack and defend ourselves in case someone tries to kidnap us. When I go out with friends in the evening for an outing in market places, sometimes we have to face eve teasers. In such cases, I feel learning self-defence can be an advantage for me,” said Alya, a student of Mahamaya Balika Inter College in Sector 44.