Protection for some, suspicion for others

Kakinada: Nowadays Dupattas (chunnis) are becoming a face masks for women of all ages. School girls, college girls, working women, middle-aged women wear Punjabi dresses that come along with a long cloth called the chunni. It is very comfortable for women to wear this dress while driving a two-wheeler.

They simply drape their face with this chunni. Those who live in metropolitan cities, towns, villages, rural areas and even some hilly areas also prefer to use the chunni mainly as protection from sun, dust and pollution.

But on the other hand, it becomes very difficult to identify a woman’s face behind this chunni. Those who wore this type of masks can easily do illegal activities keeping their faces in hiding, commented a policeman.

At the same time, the police have been showing a total discrimination in checking the masked women. They never check women who are driving two-wheelers. It becomes a tradition. Gradually the women in masks are becoming immune to security checks and are prone to do illegal activities very easily.

Speaking to ‘The Hans India’, a woman Naga Lakshmi (name changed) said that she wears chunni as a mask because she has better protection from inhaling dust and noxious gases at busy traffic intersections they pass through every day. “Anyone can cheat the police simply just wearing a woman’s wig and a Punjabi dress with a chunni mask,” she added.

Speaking to ‘The Hans India,’ District Superintendent of Police Vishal Gunni said that their men were well aware of these things. He further said police can check the official documents of a vehicle and cannot force the women to show their face. It was completely an issue of privacy, Gunni said.