\'Anti-rape\' underwear

Anti-rape underwear which delivers a 3,800 kilovolt shock to any would-be attacker has been created by a team of Indian engineering students. After disabling the assailant, the undergarment has been designed to automatically send a text message to police or family members containing the GPS location of the attempted crime. Pressure sensors on the garment, sewn in around the bust area, detect unwanted force and trigger the powerful shock. It can deliver up to 82 electric shocks, more than enough to disable any attacker. Manisha Mohan, who helped develop the product, told The Times of India: 'The lingerie with global positioning system, global system for mobile communications and also pressure sensors is capable of sending shock waves of 3,800 kV as well as alerts to parents and police. “A person trying to molest a girl will get the shock of his life the moment pressure sensors get activated, and the GPS and GSM modules would send an SMS (to the Indian emergency number) as well as to parents of the girl.” Details of the device, which were published on the Indian technology website Techpedia, show how the electric shock circuit board, is 'placed near the bosom' after a survey found that attackers usually grab a woman in that area as they initiate a rape attack. Ms Mohan added: “Studying in a convent girls school, we were always taught to be good to everyone around and bear a cheerful smile. “After stepping into the real, cruel world we realized that our smile could not last for long as the threat to our purity and integrity always lingered on. “Since the law makers take ages to come up with just laws and even after that, women are unsafe. Hence, we have initiated the idea of self?defence which protects the women from domestic, social and workplace harassment.” India has seen a spate of rapes in recent months including the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student who later died. That case sparked huge protests and widespread condemnation of the government and judiciary for their failure to protect women. Last month a Swiss Woman was attacked and a British tourist told how she was forced to jump out of her hotel window when a man attempted to attack her. The surge in violence against women is believed to be having a serious effect on the country's tourism industry. A recent study found that that in the last three months, the number of foreigners travelling to India has fallen by 25 percent with the number of female tourists down by 35 percent.