For women students returning to their hostels or paying guest accommodations (PGs) after college, the walk back can sometimes be as unsettling as the day itself. A poorly lit lane, men lingering along the road or an encounter with someone who makes them uncomfortable can turn a familiar route into one that requires constant vigilance.
At Delhi University’s Miranda House, a Pink Booth stands around 100–150 metres from the college gate. Intended to provide women with an accessible point of police assistance, it is close enough to be noticed by students passing through the area. Yet, for some of them, its presence does not necessarily translate into a sense of security.
Nabiha Abbasi, a third-year student at Miranda House, said police personnel were rarely present at the booth when she passed by. While the lane itself was well-lit, “incidents of eve-teasing are common in the vicinity”, she said. She also recalled an instance of a man allegedly masturbating in broad daylight a few metres from the college.
Anagha, another student at Miranda House, offered a different account. She said personnel were present at the booth most of the time and that she had also seen a female police officer there. But her own experience of seeking police assistance left her with questions about how women are treated when they report feeling unsafe.
On one occasion, she alleged that as she returned to her hostel at night, a group of men followed her. When she approached the police for help, she said, she was asked why she was out at that hour.
For Shueza, also a Miranda House student, the problem begins with the uncertainty of whether anyone will be at the booth in the first place. She said personnel were generally absent when she passed by and that the lane was poorly lit. She also alleged that when a man flashed outside the Maurice Nagar police station, the police did not act on the incident. With shops in the area closing by around 11 p.m., “seeking help during an emergency has become more difficult for women”, she said.
Centre of public attention
These accounts come at a time when women’s safety around Delhi University campuses has returned to the centre of public attention. On October 1, Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu directed the Delhi Police to step up patrolling, PCR deployment, and picket-checking around women’s colleges, metro stations and isolated stretches. He also called for Pink Booths and dedicated nodal police officers for each college, with additional personnel deployed during morning and evening hours.
The directions came after the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park near Lady Shri Ram College for Women in South-east Delhi’s Kalkaji. In this context, the functioning of existing Pink Booths becomes an important question: are these facilities accessible to students when they need assistance, and do they inspire confidence in those they are meant to protect?
The experience of students at Jesus and Mary College in South Campus suggests that proximity alone may not be enough.
A fourth-year student, on condition of anonymity, said a Pink Booth was located a few metres from the college but that police personnel were rarely present. She also said she had not seen female personnel at the site. During winter, the surrounding area becomes dark after 5 p.m., she said, while students appearing for examinations may leave campus around 6.30 p.m. The college does not permit students to remain on campus beyond that time, she added. “Most of us carry pepper sprays for our own safety”, she said.
At Lady Shri Ram College, Anandita Anand, who graduated this year, said the booth was located within 200 metres of the campus. However, she had mostly noticed police personnel there during college events and festivals. “The back gate of the college, near which many PGs are located, is poorly lit and isolated”, she said. Even during the day, she added, the presence of men lingering around the area can make students uncomfortable.
The concerns extend beyond women’s colleges. At Satyawati College in Ashok Vihar, north-west Delhi, students also described having to navigate poorly lit streets and uncertainty over police presence while returning from classes in the evening.
Kamna Kashyap, a fourth-year regular student, said evening classes sometimes end around 7.30 p.m., when the narrow lane outside is poorly lit. She said students encounter men who appear to be drunk in the area, although police sometimes patrol the stretch.
Another student, pursuing B.Com and speaking on condition of anonymity, said that despite the presence of PG accommodations nearby, students feel unsafe leaving the college in the evening. Women students often leave in groups because the lane is so poorly lit that it can be difficult to see the men sitting along it, the student said. The student recounting an incident said, “a male student was allegedly harassed a few days earlier in this lane, he was called and beaten up”.
At Deshbandhu College, a second-year student who requested anonymity raised similar concerns about the functioning of the Pink Booth near the college.
“The Pink Booth near our college is mostly found closed, and personnel are generally not available there,” she said, adding that it was consequently difficult to establish its operating hours. The student also said a female inspector did not appear to be present regularly.
The absence of personnel, the student said, makes it difficult for students to seek assistance when needed. While the lane is relatively manageable during the day, it becomes more concerning in the evening, when the lack of police presence and accessible assistance adds to students’ apprehension.
With daylight hours shortening as winter approaches, students may increasingly have to travel through the area in the dark.
The student suggested that regular police patrolling, better street lighting and the availability of female personnel at the booth could help students feel safer. Clear information about emergency contacts and a consistently accessible booth, the student added, would also make it easier for students to approach the authorities.
A dodgy walk to public transport
The concerns are not confined to the immediate vicinity of college gates. For students at Gargi College, the walk to public transport is another part of the journey that can demand caution.
A student who requested anonymity said the streetlights in the area were consistently dim, making it difficult to walk after 6 p.m. “Students sometimes rely on their phone torches to see the road ahead”, she said. She further alleged that the footpath along the route to the Green Park metro station is poorly lit. She recalled seeing three men urinating at different points along a stretch of approximately 300–400 metres.
Anuja, another Gargi College student who goes by her first name, also pointed to inadequate lighting. She suggested installing lights on both sides of the road and said the dense greenery around Arun Jaitley Park made the stretch more difficult to navigate without sufficient illumination.
“I didn’t even know ‘Pink Booths’ were a thing,” she said, questioning what students were expected to do when incidents occurred on or around their college campuses. She also described an incident involving a man sitting in a car who appeared to be masturbating, she alleged. Reporting such incidents to the police did not necessarily result in effective assistance, she said.
The accounts reveal different experiences of police presence. While one Miranda House student said she frequently saw personnel at the booth, others described finding it unstaffed or being uncertain about whether they could rely on the police for help. The distinction matters: a booth may be physically close to a college without necessarily being accessible at the time a student needs it.
According to data from the Special Police Unit for Women and Children, Delhi has approximately 120 Pink Booths. Designed primarily to be manned by female police personnel, these facilities are intended to provide women and girls with an approachable point of contact for assistance.
Yet a police booth is only one part of the safety infrastructure students navigate. Lighting, access to public transport, the condition of footpaths and the response to complaints all shape their experiences of moving through the city. The presence of a booth cannot, on its own, resolve these concerns.
As Delhi Police moves to strengthen security around women’s colleges, students’ accounts raise a more immediate question than how many booths the city has: when a student feels unsafe on her way home, does she know where to turn and will someone be there when she does?
For the students who described these experiences, safety is not measured simply by the presence of a pink structure on the roadside. It is measured by whether they can walk home without fear, and whether asking for help brings assistance rather than another question.
(Ifrah Asim is a freelance journalist and postgraduate journalism student at Jamia Millia Islamia)