Govt teacher in Rajasthan trains disabled girls in self-defence to tackle attackers

Jaipur, October 16

A government school teacher in Rajasthan’s Alwar district is training disabled girls in self-defence, using specialised techniques.

Asha Suman feels that these girls are more vulnerable to sexual assaults and therefore it is important to train them so that they can protect themselves if such a situation arises.

Suman, 40, who teaches at a primary school at Kharkhada, Rajgarh, started training girls facing various disabilities, especially vision loss, in 2015.

She is herself trained in self-defence under the state police. However, she shifted to Mumbai “on her own expenses” in 2019 to undergo a specialised training so that she can teach unarmed combat to disabled girls.

“Visually-impaired girls are more vulnerable to sexual abuse. Therefore, it was required to train them in self-defence using specialised techniques,” Suman told PTI.

Under this, punch, kick, forward and backward hand movement etc. are taught which not only empower the girls to face a situation but also increase their confidence, she said.

“Daily activities like how they open a door, brush their teeth, climb a staircase etc. are used as defence techniques. Through this method, they learn very quickly and are fully trained in a period of 10-12 days,” she added.

However, the techniques vary keeping in mind the various disabilities the girls suffer from, Suman said.

She has trained over 300 girls from different parts of Rajasthan in the past three years.