Two female students in India are being labelled heroes after footage emerged showing them attacking a group of men who reportedly molested them.
The video, filmed by another passenger, shows the two sisters fighting the youths on a moving bus in the Rohtak region.
At one point a girl strikes one of the men with a belt as she and her sister struggle.
The girls said they were molested by the men and when they protested they were attacked.
The footage has attracted a storm of comment and debate.
Many women have applauded the women for fighting back, calling them courageous.
Others have asked why no other passengers intervened despite the fact the bus was crowded.
The sisters were reportedly thrown off the bus following the incident.
This article originally appeared on ABC and has been republished here with full permission.
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There are some people that always to step up to help but this day and age even people like myself who are always willing to help need to think twice as you may end up on the receiving end of the abuse
Good on the girls for trying to protect themselves. I find that footage really frightening to watch. To see them fight back and the man continue to come at them is very confronting let alone the fact that it's daytime and they are on a crowded bus. It just goes to show how very lucky we have it here. Sure there is still sexual violence here but not on this scale. With so many of these attacks being reported on things will get better there but it will take a lot of time and requires these brave young girls and women to keep on speaking out.
Good point in the main Emma. I agree that these women standing up and speaking out will hopefully change the reality for women in India. Whilst we are streets ahead in terms of women's rights and capacity to catch a bus or walk down a road safely I doubt Jill Meagher and the countless others who have been attacked or died in our country will agree with you/or me. We have so many horror stories here, some reported and so many others are not known to the media. This sort of violence is commonplace across the world. In Australia we are maybe less accepting but we are still quite accepting of violence against women, particularly if it is by her partner or former partner. The use of violence by unknown perpetrators is probably the catalyst for us to act - yet this sort of violence is more rare. The horror of men abusing women is commonplace everywhere and yes less so in Australia, I hope. However, we still have horrific statistics of murder and abuse of women and their children here. We have a long way to go both in this country and globally!