Video shows sisters hit out at harassers

A video showing two sisters in northern India hitting back at men who allegedly harassed them on a bus has drawn huge attention in a country where hundreds of thousands of women silently endure sexual harassment daily.

The video, filmed by a passenger and aired on several television channels, shows the two young women hitting, punching, and beating their harassers with a belt, as other passengers silently look on.

The women, identified as Arati and Pooja, told reporters they lashed out at the men after enduring lewd comments and pawing from them. “No one came to our help. In fact, they tried to stop us and scare us by saying the men would come for us and attack us or throw acid on us,” one of the sisters told New Delhi Television.

Police in the state of Haryana had arrested three men and were investigating the incident.

Sexual violence and harassment faced has been the subject of a heated debate in India since the fatal gang rape of a woman last year.