Woman Shares Her Creepy Solo Trip Experience Where She Was Stalked By A Man

Stalking a woman is not showing love or appreciation for her, it is definitely not going to make her feel special. It is creepy behaviour and harassment against women. Stalking is a crime. However, thanks to Bollywood, people assume it to be a gesture of love. An influencer Lakshmi Devan shared on social media about the harassment and stalking she faced during a solo trip.

The incident took place on May 2 this year. Devan was on a trip to Goa. The incidents unfolded in a creepy manner wherein the person who was allegedly stalking her knew her place of accommodation as well. Devan alleged that the stalkers refused to let her go until she meets them and accept the gift they had brought for her.

In the post, Devan also noted that she had not shared her location on social media. But somehow the stalkers knew it and had decided on harassing her. She wrote, "Higher authorities had to be called and the matter was resolved, but for the next 5 days, I was too shaken up to leave my room. I barely slept."

Suggested Reading: How My First Solo Trip Taught Me The Perks Of Interacting With Strangers

Influencer Stalked On Solo Trip

Devan told her followers on LinkedIn that she triple-checked the doors and windows of the room. "I just ate take-out and cried myself to sleep," she wrote.

"I was told that I shouldn't have travelled alone since I'm a woman. I shouldn't be "so open" on LinkedIn. I was asked why my Instagram profile was public when it had pictures of me in a swimsuit," she wrote, adding, "Here's a huge f*uck you to everyone who has no idea what it is to live with rape anxiety and still won't stop blaming women for gender-based violence."

She wrote that every woman that she knows has held their keys in hand as they walked across the parking lot. She knows of women who had to make fake calls while travelling in a cab. She knows of women who were threatened because they said no to dating a man.

While stating that she does not want to hide anymore and feels the need to amplify the stories and voices, she posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit and wrote, "...if you think I'm 'asking for it,' you can go to hell."

It must sound absurd to a man when they hear women narrate their everyday fear, they might think, "not all men" in their heads. While each day after reading reports of violence, a woman chooses basic things like walking the distance alone or call a male friend to seek their help.

However much one wants to deny that violence against women was yesterday's talk, please pause, open a newspaper near you and circle the articles with women in headlines with the word crime against as a prefix. It is scary how we talk about so many new developments every day but one persistent issue of women's safety remains unresolved. Are we caring enough for it? Are we taking women as voters into account while framing policies? These are important questions to ponder upon.

Moreover, when are we going to stop this tale of victim-blaming? It is not her fault, it is not her dress' fault, it is not her appearance's fault, it is not a woman's fault. Period.

Views expressed by the author are their own.