Pepper spray sale hots up inKolkata

The key ingredient of the self-defence pepper spray is Oleresin Capcsiaicin (OC),the chemical which forms the pungent characteristic of chilli. When sprayed on an attacker,it causes severe irritation for 30 minutes to an hour. “After that the person is perfectly normal,as it has no side-effect,” Arora said.

Significantly,most of the demand for the spray has been from women working in Salt Lake and Rajarhat. “We have visited several companies at Sector V and the response has been tremendous. Girls work till late night at these places and given the recent spurt in crimes they are keen on keeping a can of this spray with them,” Arora said.

Payal Mishra,a call centre employee in Sector V,said,“It gives you a lot of confidence and a sense of security. It can be carried easily in your purse. I did not know something like this was available here.”

The can comes with a child lock that can be opened in half a second by an adult. The 55 ml can comes for Rs 499. It is also permissible to be kept as self-defence product under the IPC Section 96,97,102,105 and 106.

Officials of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate,too,termed it a good move. “The pepper spray is more prevalent overseas. Over here,the awareness level is low. Police can’t be present everywhere all the time. Little steps like these by the citizens can go a long way in helping us. It should be encouraged,” said Subrata Bandopadhyay,DC (HQ),Bidhannagar Commissionerate.