The government took the cue to install CCTV cameraqs on buses from private operators in the region.
Police in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi District have installed CCTV cameras in six government buses in a bid to curb the harassment of women, which is often flashpoint for the outbreak of communal clashes in the state's Thoothukudi District.
The district police will also be employing a marshal for each bus plying in the region, whose sole purpose would be to monitor and act against those who harass women.
The effort comes after investigations into communal clashes in the restive parts of southern Tamil Nadu revealed that many of the clashes began after women of one community were harassed in buses by men from another community.
A number of people have been killed in caste-related tensions in Thoothukudi District over the years. Three murders last year and four this year have been attributed to caste tensions. A majority of the clashes in the area take place between Dalits and the locally dominant Thevar community.
The volatility of caste tensions in the region was underscored by a government project in 2005 to construct metal cages around the statues of BR Ambedkar and Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, the icons of the Dalit and Thevar communities respectively, after some clashes were sparked by the desecration of statues.
The cue for the installation of the CCTV cameras came from private bus operators in the region. "The installation of cameras in private buses has significantly reduced the crime rate in the past few months," said Thoothukudi District Collector M Ravikumar.
Not just camera, the district administration has also deployed one marshal for each bus, apart from the driver and conductor, solely to keep a look out for harassment and take action where necessary.
"We have deployed 60 bus marshals, one exclusively for each bus, who can monitor troublemakers. Eve-teasing has come down drastically, and women tell us they are happy," said Ashwin Kotnis, the district police chief.