lingerie to protect women from sexual attacks

Disturbed by the series of rapes, particularly the fatal assault of a paramedical student in Delhi last year, a group of engineering students in Chennai have designed lingerie
that would give electric shocks to sexual offenders. Manisha Mohan, one of the makers, says, "A special insulation protects the user from any shock. Even when the offender touches the victim, there would be no harm to the user".

However, the offender would receive 82 electric shocks and the GPS in it would also alert the exact location to police and intimate one pre-set family member. But how does the inbuilt system in the lingerie identify an attack? Rimpi Tripathi, another member in the team, explains: "We've calculated the impact of a pinch, a squeeze and a grab by sexual offenders and only when the force goes beyond, it sends electric shock. Also, one has the option to turn it off at safe locations".

The team says their aim is not to make profit but to ensure this reaches every woman in the country. Many companies have already approached them. "We would carefully work with companies that would not increase the price and would ask some subsidy from the government" says Niladri Basu Bal, the only male member in the team.  The team's innovation has already won them The idea and the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation awards.

These students of the SRM University in Chennai are now working on getting their idea patented. Jini, a young student, told NDTV, "I would feel all the more safe as I often face such deliberate harassment while travelling in buses and trains."   However Nandini, a professional, thinks otherwise. She says "I'm not comfortable wearing an inner with electrical circuits; what if it gives me the electric current?