A second video shows two Indian sisters beating up a harasser in a park

GlobalPost

Victims or perpetrators?

That's the question now being asked of two sisters in India who were hailed for fighting back against their harassers on a public bus. 

Aarti and Pooja, aged 22 and 19, were thrown into the national spotlight this week after a video of them beating their alleged attackers last Friday went viral in the country where sexual harassment is a daily reality for hundreds of thousands of women.

Now a second video has emerged, this time of the sisters hitting, shoving and kicking a man in a public park after he allegedly made lewd comments about them.

But the new footage has raised questions about the girls' claims that they were acting in self-defense, with some bloggers suggesting the men were the real victims.    

Pooja remains defiant. She confirmed that it is the two sisters in the latest video and warned more would be released. 

"More videos will emerge. I am 19 have been harassed by 2000 boys in my life ... wherever I got the chance, I beat them up," Pooja told NDTV.

Pooja said the latest video is more than a month old and was shot by a passer-by. Their family claims the girls were walking through a park in Rohtak district of the northern state of Haryana when a man sitting on a bench made an offensive remark. 

But not everyone is convinced the sisters are telling the truth and there are suggestions that Friday's incident was provoked when the two girls forced an elderly woman out of her seat.  

Before the second video emerged, Aarti and Pooja were showered with praise for the way they responded to three men who had allegedly "threatened" and "abused" them on a public bus last Friday. 

“The men started to abuse me and touch me. I told them 'if you touch me again, you'll get beaten up.' They called a friend on the phone and told him to 'come over because we have to beat up some girls,'" Pooja told the BBC.

When no one else on the bus tried to help them, the girls removed their belts and began beating their attackers.

"No one came forward in the bus to help us. So we took out our belts in self-defense (and hit the men.) If only the other passengers had helped us, we would not have needed to retaliate in this way," Pooja continued.

The video, recorded by another passenger on their cell phone, shows a man trying to intervene as the girls whipped, kicked and punched one of the alleged assailants.   

The other passengers just watched. Some warned the girls of the potential consequences, like an acid attack, if they provoked the men. 

Police arrested and charged three men on Sunday, two days after the girls’ parents filed a complaint. The driver and conductor of the bus have been suspended. 

The video of the shocking incident has gone viral and fuelled debate about India's struggles to curb sexual harassment.

"Eve-teasing," a term used to describe the public harassment of women, has been a hot button issue in India since the deadly gang rape of a female student on a bus in the capital New Delhi in December 2012, which sparked nationwide protests and prompted the government to toughen rape laws. 

The reaction to Friday's video on social media has been huge. Bloggers using the hashtag #RohtakBravehearts have heaped praise on the girls’ bravery and slammed the other passengers for their inaction.

There have been offers of cash rewards and there are even plans to honor the girls' actions on Republic Day. 

"Every girl should show bravery done by the two girls. I respect their bravery. Both the girls will be awarded rupees 31,000 (about $500) each. The government will probe into the case," OP Dhankar, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Jhajjar district, was quoted as saying.

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