ISLAMABAD:
A women hockey coach and member of the Rawalpindi Hockey Association claimed that she was harassed by a group of men on a main road in Rawalpindi late on Monday.
Rubina Noroze, 48, said that she was driving through Saddar near Committee Chowk when a group of six to seven men got out a car and attacked her vehicle.
“They used abusive language and began pounding my car. I instantly rolled up the windows, which is why we remained unhurt,” said Noroze, who was accompanied by her two elder sisters in a rented Suzuki Alto (RL 2817).
Amid the frenzy, Noroze said, she could not recall the number plate of the attackers’ car. “It was a white sedan, either a Toyota or a Honda.”
She said that she was going to coach women and girls in different localities of the city, but feared more possible harassment incidents.
After the incident, she said, they sped off and reported the incident at the Waris Khan Police Station. “The police have been cooperative with us, assuring us that they will track down the attackers soon,” she said.
Meanwhile, Noroze refuses to be inhibited by the incident. “I won’t sit back in fear and I want to tell whoever did this that I can fight back,” she said, adding that young girls who become professional athletes are often discouraged from taking a stand for themselves and that there was a need to end this silence.
On the other hand, Sub-inspector Muhammad Akram denied receiving any such report, although a scanned copy of the first investigation report is available with The Express Tribune.
Noroze went to the Asia Cup in Singapore last year as assistant coach and manager of the Pakistan hockey team. Previously, she has also won medals for other sports such as hiking, rock-climbing, trekking and rowing.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2014.
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