Safety revolver ’Nirbheek’ launched at Rs 1.2 lakh for women

www.mangaloretoday.com

Kanpur, March 31, 2014(CNN-IBN): Over a year after the brutal Delhi gangrape incident, the Indian Ordnance Factory in Kanpur has launched ’Nirbheek’, a .32 bore light-weight revolver designed especially for women to defend themselves from assault.

Its nomenclature is inspired by ’Nirbhaya’, the gangrape victim who succumbed to her grievous injuries in December last year, after five men brutally gangraped her in the heart of Delhi and dumped her on the road before escaping.

 

"Nirbheek is meant for the women of today who want to ensure that they fight all the odds against them in the society themselves. We do not want another Nirbhaya incident, do we?" said Mahesh Chandra Bansal, Chairman of the Indian Ordnance Factory, as he launched the safety revolver in Field Gun Factory in Kanpur on Sunday.

"The revolver is giving competition to other companies manufacturing self- defense mechanisms in India and abroad," he added.

Kalpana Pandey from Barabanki became the first woman to purchase Nirbheek at the launch ceremony, reported Amarujala.

"We have to be self-dependent. Crime rate is at an all time high. Let’s not compromise on our security," she said, urging other women at the ceremony to come forward and buy Nirbheek.

Even as the benefit of this 500 gm revolver is that it’s light-weight and can be kept by women in their purses or handbags, the disadvantage is it comes at an exorbitant price.

Priced at a whopping Rs 1,22,360, how many women would prefer buying it over the cheap pepper sprays, electric pens and torches is yet to be seen.

However if, Abdul Hamid who is the General Manager of the Ordnance factory , is to be believed the company received ten bookings for the revolver last month, even before it was launched.

The revolver will be delivered in a special ornamental box on a first-come-first-serve basis, he had said, adding that although men can also buy the safety device, it’s the women the company is targeting at.