Font Size 
Mumbai loses safe city reputation
Published on Thu, Jan 04, 2007 at 08:57, Updated on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 20:04 in 
Tags: 
Related Stories
Photogallery
 |  |
Mumbai: As Mumbaikars bade adieu to 2006, they also said hello to a city getting notoriously unsafe for women.
On the New Year’s eve, in the final minutes of the year gone by, a young woman was almost stripped and molested in full public view by an unruly mob of nearly 70 party animals in full public view at the Gateway of India.
The woman’s friend, a young man, was also manhandled, and it took the couple a desperate and a nightmarish 10 minutes before they could get out of what could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
The rest of the city and the country could have quite easily missed out on the grave bit of news save for the fact that it was caught on camera by a photographer with city daily Mid-Day.
Shadab Khan, the photographer, was covering the New Year event from a temporary police watchtower.
The photographs he took, he says, have shaken his faith in the city he has lived in all his life.
Recalling the horrifying incident Shadab said, “At around 11:30-11:45 when I looked back to the crowd, I saw some people were trying to molest a lady. Her friend was also there who was trying to stop them. Both were trying to run away from that mob. There were more than 600 people around the Gateway of India but there were around 50 to 60 people who were there around her and were not allowing the couple to move out from the crowd.”
When asked about the police who were present at the watchtower, Shadab said, “I was at the police watchtower and there were to constables along with me. I am shocked that how come the policemen, who were on the duty, didn’t saw that incident. Later on I told them that this happening but they didn’t respond.”
So is Mumbai still the safest city for women, as it was famously known? That was the question that came up for discussion on CNN-IBN's Face the Nation with Anuradha SenGupta.
On the panel of experts were Shadab Khan, Photographer, Mid-Day, Malvika Sanghvi, Columnist and Lifestyle & Travel Editor, DNA, Y P Singh, Former IPS Officer and Shaina NC, Fashion Designer, and Politician, Secretary BJP Mumbai.
While Mumbaikars are shocked by the images of a woman being publicly molested at the Gateway of India on New Year's Eve, the police can do little. That's because no one has pressed charges.
The premise that Mumbai is losing it’s claim to being the safest city for women in India is emphasized by a series of distressing crimes against women in the past couple of years.
Past incidents |
|
 More was convicted and sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment. |
| On August 13, 2005, a young woman from Manipur was stabbed to death in front of the Gateway of India, in broad daylight. Her friend was also assaulted |
| The assailant Junaid Patel's mental instability was cited as the reason for the reckless murder. |
| A South African model of Indian origin was taken from suburban hotel Bawa International to another hotel by two men on December 27 It was a termed a case of DATE - RAPE', since the victim knew the assailants who drugged her before the assault |
| On August 13, 2002, a mentally challenged minor girl was raped on a second-class compartment of the last Borivli bound train. The assailant was a drunk youth. Five Mumbaikers, including a journalist, were silent spectators. |
[ Single Page View ]
| Ads by Google |
| Related Ads: | |
Read Comment | Post Comment
Be the first to comment.