Avoid getting into trouble

Alertness and responsibility are best precautions against any mishappening.

The rape of a Swiss nationalist a few months back became the headlines of every newspaper in India. The Swiss lady, at midnight was picked up from the parking lot outside Siri Fort Auditorium, raped and was then left. The rapist was a well educated English speaking person.

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Again on March 6, a 19-year-old Fijian medical student studying in Delhi was alleged to have been raped by a 28-year-old intelligent executive owning a travel agency. Both these incidences might create waves all over the world and foreigners visiting India might feel that travelling to India was unsafe, especially for women.

However, one needs to go deeper into the incidences and then take a decision. No country is safe even for its own citizens after a particular time. Even an American girl cannot dare to go out in open alone at midnight in most of the states. In many localities in US, it is not safe to go out after 9 pm. In India also no Indian girl will dare to drive alone or be on the roads at midnight. It will always attract bad elements in society.

In both the incidents, would the women in question have dared to enjoy such freedom in their own country? Would Fijian girl be walking out of a hotel dead drunk alone in her home city?

The Fijian girl incident happened at around midnight. She visited Hyatt Regency, a five star hotel in South Delhi, with three of her friends and consumed alcohol peg by peg. All four of them went to Djinns, a famous discotheque, and danced till midnight. Once dead drunk she was literally forced out by the bouncers who thought that her behaviour was not up to the mark.

She came out of the hotel but none of her friends bothered to care for her. Outside the lobby, in the car waiting areas the alleged rapist gave her a lift. The end result was she went with him in his car and was allegedly raped. Was she raped because she was a foreign national? Probably not! Even an Indian girl in her position would have ended into the same situation. The crime life is always active around midnight. A girl alone, especially under the influence of alcohol, is enough to increase the appetite of even innocent youngsters.

Foreign nationals, especially the women, must adhere to some basic precautions. These precautions are no different from the ones taken by an Indian women.

· Do not drive alone after 11 pm especially in the deserted areas

· If you consume alcohol, do it in limits. The limit involves not more than 10gm of alcohol in one hour. The 10gm of alcohol is roughly equivalent to 30ml of 40 per cent whisky and 50ml of wine. The person loses control if he or she consumes more than 10gm of alcohol in one hour. The loss of control may persist for hours if more number of pegs are drunk in a short period of time. The rough formula is number of pegs taken in one hour is equivalent to number of hours the person is not going to be in his or her senses.

· Do not believe the strangers. There is a famous Chanakya saying: “Never believe a stranger when they are talking to you for the first time.” Most such incidences occur when strangers talk to you and try to win your confidence and you end up in surrendering to them. They will invariably rob you mentally, physically or financially.

· Beware while hiring a commercial vehicle. Another important precaution that needs to be taken is while hiring a commercial vehicle, which can be a bus, cab or auto rickshaw. In no circumstances, one should hire a bus that has no or very few passengers. Similarly, hiring a cab or auto rickshaw while alone is a major risk. If you are alone or even if you are with someone and either you are not in your senses or not in a position to fight if such types of incidences occur, do not hire the vehicle.

These are the basic fundamental principles one needs to remember whenever visiting any country or even within your own country.

In India while driving also one needs to take certain basic precautions. Every year four lakh road traffic accidents occur in India and 80,000 die. Accidents in India do not depend on how well one drives but on how bad others drive.

Howsoever skilled driver you are it is better not to drive in India unless it is a must. If you drive always carry your identification mark so that if you meet an accident you can be identified and taken care of within no time.

Many foreigners get killed in road accidents in India because once an accident has occurred people try to shift them to the best of the hospitals in the country. The basic first aid in the road traffic accident victim involves shifting the victim within 10 minutes out of the road (platinum 10 minutes) and getting the first aid of stoppage of bleeding and maintenance of blood pressure by way of IV fluids within one hour of the accident (Golden Hour). Once the person is stabilised he/she can be shifted to a hospital, which has advanced care. The basic first aid can be given even in an ill equipped medical centre.

(Dr. Aggarwal is Sr. Consultant, Mool Chand Hospital, Executive Vice Chairman, Heart Care Foundation of India & President, IMA New Delhi Branch.)