Click to play videoMumbai: Living in suburbs is not an easy task for many women especially if she professionally belongs to the glamour world.
Young, independent, single and glamorous is a description that fits model and TV anchor Shamita Singha and many other young professionals like her living alone in Mumbai's western suburbs.
Irregular hours, bold clothes and a flashy lifestyle - all side effects of the profession, but they're now becoming the cause of conflict between other residents of the suburbs and Shamita and her industry colleagues.
“They eye us with so much suspicion. They feel that just because we are from the glamour world, there will be people coming to meet us all the time and some hanky panky business is likely to be going on,” says Shamita Singha.
This is an insecurity that has been heightened by recent murder cases, all involving single professionals from the entertainment industry and all located in the city's western suburbs.
Television producer Neeraj Grover was allegedly murdered by Kannada actress and TV aspirant Maria Susairaj and her boyfriend in Maria's Malad flat.
In December 2007, starlet Moon Das' boyfriend from Orissa killed her mother and uncle in her Oshiwara apartment before committing suicide himself.
It is little wonder then that building societies in the suburbs are becoming extremely cautious about the profile of people staying in their buildings. Any linkage with the glamour world would mean lesser chances of buying or renting a flat.
“We're not saying that they're all bad but it is a matter of the safety and security of people in the society. No one wants to take any risk,” says secretary, Om Jogeshwar Housing society, BC Sanghvi.
Strict rules for tenant verification by the Mumbai police are also making life tough for single men and women from the entertainment industry. Both landlords and tenants now need to give intimation to the police, followed by an inspection of the flat by the local police station.
“Keeping a tab on their places of stay will help deter such crimes,” says Ashutosh Dumbre, DCP Operations
Meanwhile, as most cities grapple with the problem of the safety of their women, from Bandra to Borivali, young single women are increasingly being eyed as the cause of the trouble rather than the victims.
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