Anti-rape underwear that pins down predators

Chennai\New Delhi: Three engineering students have created a unique GPS equipped anti-rape underwear capable of knocking down sexual assaulters with 3800 KV shocks that will also alert police.

One of the creators of the electric lingerie, Rimpi Tripathi, said the product would not only protect the woman but also deliver instant punishment to the offender. "We wanted to bring in a solution, an instant solution, so that it can prove to be a deterrent that the person who has tried to attempt rape on a girl should be shocked and should be terrified with that shock actually, so that he can never even dream of raping or touching a girl with an evil sense," she said. Resembling a nightgown with wiring between the breasts, the underwear named ‘Society Harnessing Equipment’ (SHE) will send electric current to the assaulter the moment he tries to press a woman`s body. The trio, all engineering students at a university in Chennai, said the idea for the innovation was triggered by the assault on a 23-year old student who was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in New Delhi last December, sending shivers across the globe. The girl later succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Singapore, sparking nation-wide debate over the safety of women in India and country`s lax anti-rape laws. Rimpi further said, "Months of handwork, careful planning and creation of sensitive electric circuits that do not harm the woman wearing the underwear have been vital to the innovation. Niladri Basubal, another co-creator, said the initial shock would incapacitate the attacker and it would be followed by multiple shocks, upto 82 times to ensure that the attacker cannot regroup to have a second go. "As soon as the criminal places his hand, he will get a shock of 3,800 kilo volts voltage and immediately he will be incapacitated and he even if he tries to get up and attack once more, we have a facility that will produce 82 times shock so definitely that will be enough," he concluded. The trio is working on ensuring that the product is water-resistant and can be interfaced with mobile via Bluetooth. Rimpi also said the three innovators had spent a lot of time and research to create an insulating layer to prevent the underwear from sending electric shocks to the person wearing it. "People are coming up with the question, what happens if the girl herself gets electrocuted, so I want to tell that this is not possible because we are here with an insulating layer, which will be in contact with the body that will be insulating so she will never get a shock for herself. It will be a shock to the one who touches it and the pressure we have already calibrated," she said. The team is also working on finding a suitable fabric, allowing women to wash it like an ordinary garment before it is made available in the market. The developers said they could not show the actual prototype of the product till they get their patent approved. ANI