Posters carrying messages like “Attending late-night parties could invite rape or gang rape” and “Don’t take your friend to dark, isolated areas. What if there is a rape or gang rape?” triggered widespread outrage in Ahmedabad.
Sponsored by the city’s traffic police as part of a women’s safety campaign, the posters were criticized for promoting sexist and victim-blaming narratives.
Following public backlash, authorities removed the posters and clarified that the language used was “indecent” and had not been officially approved.
According to a media report, the posters in Gujarati were seen pasted on dividers in areas like Sola and Chandlodia, with several of them carrying the name of a group called ‘Satarkta’, and mentioning Ahmedabad traffic police as a sponsor. Top police officers, including Neeta Desai, DCP (Traffic West) and Shailesh Modi, ACP (Traffic Admin) confirmed that permission was indeed granted to Satarkta to put up posters “for traffic awareness”.
But when the content of the posters went viral on social media and faced backlash, police distanced themselves from the controversy. “The posters have now been removed,” said Modi, admitting they appeared “indecent”.
N N Chaudhary, additional commissioner of police (traffic), also clarified that Satarkta Group, reportedly run by a local scribe, was allowed to put up traffic awareness posters, not messages laced with threats of sexual violence.
“We never approved such language. It is unacceptable,” he said.