For 23-year-old Marouf scooty was the only way out of the harassment girls face in public transport. A mass-communication student at the University of Kashmir, Marouf has been riding the two-wheeler since 2012, when she was studying at the Government College for Women Nawakadal. During the first year of her college, she says she was annoyed by unnecessary pushing and shoving in public transport. “It was annoying, so I preferred to walk from my Batamaloo residence to Nawakadal College,” she said. Soon after, Marouf bought a scooty, which helped her save time as well as escape the harassment. “I was a bit reluctant as people can’t take their eyes off a girl whether she is riding a bike or driving a car or simply walking,” she said. However, while riding a scooty, she says, people stare or pass comments but can’t touch. “Whenever any such incident occurs, I do not pay any heed to the eve teasers and just ride on,” she said. So Marouf is happy with her scooty rides. “It undoubtedly saves a lot of time and most importantly saves one from the harassment that occurs in the buses,” she says. DIG Central Kashmir, Ghulam Hassan Bhat told Kashmir Impulse that a woman can register a complaint if she faces verbal harassment while riding or driving. He said the culprit can be arrested for eve teasing under 294 RPC. While scooty is making Marouf’s life easier and safer, her expenses have increased. “I used to save some money from the bus fare expenses my parents gave me, by walking, but now all the money is spent on fuel,” she said. But the expenses on her scooty are worth it, she says. She also finds a scooty better than cars because of traffic jams. “Traffic is never an issue while riding a scooty and it can enter narrow lanes as well,” Marouf said. A car, she adds, is too expensive for her at this age. Marouf is one of the thousands of girls riding their way to freedom and convenience in Kashmir.

According to the data available at Regional Transport Office (RTO), in 2014 and 2015, 3202 women applied for learner’s license and 992 for regular licenses (for both two wheelers and four wheelers). Officials said anyone who is 17 plus can apply for the driving license for scooty. “I feel delighted whenever any girl applies for a licence, so that they can travel by their own convenience,” said Regional Transport Officer Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad Rather. He said girls mostly prefer two-wheelers to cars. “I attended a few driving license sessions and girls passed driving tests,” Rather said. Generally girls are also considered safe drivers. According to the data available at the traffic department, as many as 63 accidents have occurred due to negligence of male drivers while there was no such case reported against women drivers since 2014. In 2015, 2,745 (both males and females) were booked for double pillion riding while as 19,886 for not wearing crash helmet during the same period. While as from January 2016 to February, 631 were booked for double pillion and 3,872 for not wearing crash helmet. Officials say that only four percent of traffic violators are female. “Women are comparatively safer drivers and riders than men,” said Senior Superintendent Police Maqsood-u-Zaman. Doctors at Shere-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura say that unlike boys, the hospital receives very few girls injured during riding or driving. “Accident rate is not that common in girls as they are not rash riders or drivers,” an official said. Head, Department of Neurosurgery at Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, Dr Altaf Ramzan said riders should follow the traffic norms to stay safe. “Traffic rules should be followed for one’s own safety, not just to escape fines,” Dr Ramzan said. “A proper helmet can make all the difference in case of an accident,” she said. It protects their jaw, face and the skull, he said. While riding in cold weather, he said, they should cover their face to prevent drying of skin and other skin related problems. According to the data available at the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, 641 females have taken loan under its special scheme for scooties. J & K Bank is continuously focusing on productization of services. “We have always been on the forefront to tailor specific schemes for every segment of customers. Women empowerment has always remained one of our priorities. To mitigate the inconvenience of working women and girl students we introduced special Scooty finance scheme so that they could travel to their respective work places or education institutions without hassles”, said Sajjad Bazaz, Incharge Corporate Communication, J&K Bank. He added that they have a hassle free process in place so that women/ girls take benefit of the Scooty finance scheme. It’s a developmental scheme rather than a commercial scheme as the pricing of the scheme is ver low in the industry. Dealers are also doing a good business. From April 2015 to March 2016, 1126 scooties were sold by Hero JK Motors. “We sell about 200 scooties each month throughout the valley,” Hyfa Majeed Operation Administrator at Hero JK Motors told Kashmir Impulse.