Safety of women in Chennai

Good morning to all of you

First I would like to say that I am so glad I joined Internations- a lot of you have already helped me so much!
Now another question:
I'll be coming to Chennai in October to work here for 6 months...in the last days/weeks there has been a lot of threatening stories in the media around here about women not being safe in India at all. A lot of stories about violence, especially rape and that it is not advised for women to travel to India.
As you see I am a little worried now- of course I knew that it India is different to Germany and I will definetly stick out with my blond hair and blue eyes but how do you see the situation at the moment. especially you women- is it safe to go out on your own, do you feel uneasy in the streets? what precautions do I have to take?

I have to arrange housing on my own. Is it safer to share an appartment with other girls or have an appartement of my own?

Sorry to bother you with all that but I am slightly worried at the moment. I know that media might just aswell focus on this aspect a little to much and maybe it is not that bad at all but from my position here in Germany it is really hard to judge...

Best regards and looking forward to maybe meeting some of you in october :)