Charged with the confidence that they can now protect themselves, around 2,800 women - some middle aged housewives, some doctors - gave mock karate kicks and yells here Friday to demonstrate what they had learnt at a 10-day self defence camp.

At the capitals' Talkatora Indoor Stadium the women, who underwent the Delhi Police-organised training programme, said they had developed an increased sense of self-confidence and enthusiasm.

Neeraja Chauhan, a housewife who underwent the programme, said:
"I now do not have to depend on anyone for protection and can move around without someone having to constantly accompany me."

Undergraduate student Anjali Chowdhary said the camp gave her confidence.

"I feel confident not just about myself but also about protecting others when in need. It is more than the physical training. I have realised that it is more about the mental toughness one needs to have during adversities."

According to the latest figures of the National Crime Records Bureau for 2003, Delhi tops the chart of crimes against women among the country's 35 mega cities.

With 1,862 cases, Delhi accounted for 14.8 percent of crimes against women.

Among the participants at the camp were 10 who were above the age of 50, around 60-odd women between 40-50 years and more than 600 who were below 15 years, said Delhi Police's Crime Against Women Cell that had organised the training.

There were two doctors, a lecturer, some 2,300 students and even a social worker.

The camp taught the women various self-defence techniques and attacking methods involving simple everyday use things like books, pens, pencils.

The trained women were able to handle different situations including in open spaces, during bus travel and when they were attacked together by several people. They demonstrated their deftness in tackling weapons like knives and guns.

Some 300 women were also specially trained in road safety by the road safety cell of the Delhi Police.

The women were imparted martial arts skills like taekwondo, judo and karate from May 30.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau figures for 2003, Delhi accounted for 30.5 percent of rape cases, 35 percent of kidnapping and abduction cases, 18.8 percent of dowry deaths and 15 percent of molestation cases among the 35 cities.

Among all the states and union territories, Delhi ranks third after Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the incidence of crimes against women.

Training has been given to 17,000 women since the programme began in 2001.