Karnataka student develops “Anti-rape footwear”

Vijaylakshmi Biradar, a tenth-grade student at SRN Mehta School is credited with creating a device to protect female students from sexual violence.

She won the first prize in the Science Exhibition conducted by India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) this year for developing an ‘anti-rape footwear’.

The innovation made a big splash and was appreciated by attendees as well as renowned scientists and dignitaries. It was inspired by real-life cases.

The attacker would often approach the victim from behind and try to molest her without her knowledge. According to Biradar, sexual assault is a form of violence that is committed against women without any provocation or reason, and it can be perpetrated by anyone; thus, prevention is vital.

The device is designed in such a way that it will protect the wearer from being attacked from behind. “The idea came to me during a chemistry class when I was brainstorming about some different ideas and how to improve safety for women and I came up with the idea of the anti-rape footwear.”

   

HOW DOES THE ANTI-RAPE FOOTWEAR WORK?

Vijaylakshmi explained that when a perpetrator tries to assault a girl, she can kick them with the anti-rape footwear, further electrocuting them.

Revealing the intricate details of her invention, she explained that the electricity passes through the footwear with the help of batteries that help girls fight the perpetrators.

Besides, it also has an in-built GPS feature that will send an alert to the girl’s parents, along with her live location.

Talking about the project, her teacher revealed that Vijaylakshmi started working on it in 2018 when she was in class 7 or 8. She also elaborated that Vijaylakshmi has won many awards and has been working on this project for a long time.

Moreover, she recently won an International Invention and Innovation expo award in Goa for her project.