Not just Bengaluru's shame: Rising India can't afford such lawlessness

Can't afford to have half the population so intimidated

The mass molestation of women in Bengaluru on New Year’s Eve has aired for the global public another invidious facet of India’s deep-seated gender prejudice. This version of gender chauvinism is a slightly updated variation on an old theme; it posits a reluctant acceptance of the growing crowds of women in the workplace but within strictly defined behavioural boundaries. That means that, today, it is deemed tolerable for women to educate themselves to the highest levels, and work as accountants, bankers, hoteliers, chefs, programmers, back-office executives, marketing managers, even be chief executive officers and own and run their own businesses.