Criticising the norm of victim-blaming which is common in the country, famous cyclist Samar Khan on Saturday said harassing and sexually assaulting women was considered a normal thing in the country.

Samar was expressing her views while speaking in 24@9 – the daily morning show aired by 24NewsHD TV channel – as she shared the ordeal experienced two days ago when she was groped in public on a busy road of Islamabad by an educated person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akoM87SYpGs

Later, she had posted a video on her social media accounts, describing the account in detail. It went viral and since then has even been covered by international media outlets like the BBC.

https://twitter.com/SKhanAthlete/status/1303729504184135687 

Her experience has been felt across the board as it coincided with the horrific gang-rape of a woman in front of her children on Motorway in Lahore.

About this trend spreading in our society, Samar told 24@9 that it was because of the fact that no man ever got punished for their acts, making the people believe they too would go unnoticed.

Several people witnessed the incident near Faizabad where the man slowed down his car and groped her but no one even bothered to intervene, said Samar who added that she tried to chase him but couldn’t because he sped away in his car.

Moreover, she also blasted the society and the state for the attitude of justifying such acts by presenting excuses like the women shouldn’t leave their homes at night and without male family members.

While discussing the failure on the part of the state to provide security to the women, she said why they should not carry guns and knives to protect themselves.

It is worth noting that Samar, who promotes and encourages women to adopt cycling as a habit and daily routine, in her social media video had told the people bluntly that she won’t lie and the practice wasn’t safe even in a city like Islamabad.