Viral Prabhavathi Amma in action again on footpaths in Kozhikode city

A 73-year-old woman, Prabhavathi Amma, who recently went viral on social media for her courageous solo-protest against a motorist who was riding on a footpath at Eranhipalam in Kozhikode city, continued her protest on Saturday by preventing the entry of a few reckless riders. There were both youngsters and elders in the group of riders who were caught red-handed on the footpath with the elderly woman’s determined fight.

“This illegal ride has been troubling the poor pedestrians, including the elderly ones, for several years. On many occasions, the riders escaped from my hand when I stepped back to allow them to turn the two-wheelers,” said the elderly woman whose daring action prompted the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) to suspend the driving licence of one of the exposed riders. She also captured the road rule violations in her mobile phone to hand over to the MVD enforcement squad.

“I had filed complaints with the authorities several times against this dangerous practice. Apart from imposing fines, nothing happened to prevent it,” said Mr. Prabhavathi, a resident of Eranhipalam, who was once an active political activist. Within a week, I myself prevented at least four riders on the footpath and I would continue with this protest, she affirmed.

The Motor Vehicles Department on February 13 honoured her with a ponnada for her volunteering effort to end the reckless practice. After her video in action went viral on social media, the MVD had started efforts to trace her after sharing the details of the intervention on their official social media account. Videos of her action grabbed millions of views across Instagram and Facebook within three days.

“It was a social media influencer who caught her action on the camera on February 12 and shared it widely on various social media platforms. Since it was an encouraging move on the part of an elderly woman, we decided to honour her. Transport Minister K. Ganesh Kumar also congratulated her and promised all possible interventions to end the illegal practice,” said a senior Motor Vehicles Department official. He said the footpath riders would be exposed with the support of more checking squads.

Many motorists also came in support of her action for pedestrians’ rights. P.V. Vinod, a local resident who witnessed her interventions for three consecutive days, said she was found least bothered of her old age to resume a “meaningful fight” for the public. All those who have seen her video have shared it widely to win public support for her cause, he noted.

A senior police officer with the Kozhikode city traffic unit said more plainclothesmen with cameras would be posted in the days to come to capture the violators red-handed and initiate further legal actions. He also claimed that the police had previously impounded several vehicles which were used by the footpath riders at the spot.