‘Don’t go to parties or you’ll be raped’: Posters spark outrage, embarrass Ahmedabad police

Within hours of images going viral on social media, top police officials rushed to contain the damage.

A set of disturbing posters plastered across Ahmedabad on Friday, with messaging that suggested women attending late-night parties risk rape or gangrape, has landed the city’s traffic police in a major controversy.

The posters, written in Gujarati, were attributed to the voluntary group ‘Satarkta’, and bizarrely featured the Ahmedabad Traffic Police logo, giving them an official air of authority.

What the posters said

In large bold letters, the posters warned:

"Attending late-night parties could invite rape or gangrape."

"Do not take your friend to dark, isolated areas. What if there is a rape or gangrape?"

The outrage was immediate and widespread. Citizens, women’s rights groups, and residents blasted the messages as alarmist, misogynistic, and reeking of victim-blaming.

Police backpedals after outcry

Within hours of images going viral on social media, top police officials rushed to contain the damage.

ACP (Traffic Admin) Shailesh Modi admitted the posters were 'indecent' and confirmed that all of them have now been taken down.

Senior police officers including Neeta Desai (DCP Traffic, West) and N N Chaudhary (Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic) clarified that while Satarkta was given permission to put up posters for traffic awareness, these particular messages were never approved.

Who cleared these posters, and why?

According to the police, the Satarkta group, reportedly run by a local journalist, has regularly been involved in city campaigns to promote traffic safety. The group had prior permission to issue traffic awareness posters, but this time acted unilaterally, bypassing police vetting.

Chaudhary said, “We never approved such language. It is unacceptable. Satarkta has now been told not to issue any such posters again.”

Citizens slam ‘moral policing in disguise’

Many residents expressed disbelief that such insensitive, fear-based messaging went up under an official-looking banner.

“These posters imply that women’s safety depends on where they go, not on systemic protection,” Dr Bhumi Patel, a resident of Ghatlodia told Times of India.

“It’s moral policing dressed up as public safety,” added Gayatri Shah, a fitness trainer from Bodakdev. “Instead of educating people, it tries to control women’s movements through fear.”

“It shifts blame to potential victims, not perpetrators, and allows institutions to dodge accountability,” Minal Solanki from Nehrunagar told TOI.

Police issues public clarification

Speaking to the media late Friday evening, DCP Neeta Desai reiterated that the group violated trust by posting unrelated content without consulting the police.

“Satarkta usually works with us on traffic-related campaigns. This time, they went off-script. We have warned them strictly,” she said.