This paper’s front-page report yesterday showed that while perverts have remained the same through the ages, those at the receiving end do not take things lying down any more, especially with technology acting as a great empowering tool
This paper’s front-page report yesterday showed that while perverts have remained the same through the ages, those at the receiving end do not take things lying down any more, especially with technology acting as a great empowering tool.
When a 35-year-old man stopped his motorcycle next to an auto rickshaw carrying two teenaged girls at a traffic signal in Khar and started masturbating at them, the quick-thinking teens snapped a picture of the jerk and circulated it among their friends. When told they should contact the police, one of the girls tweeted the picture and tagged Mumbai Police.
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The police, who have in the past been criticised for tweeting too much and acting too little, amended that image by catching the man within three hours. More importantly, the police processed the entire case without requiring the girl to do anything. The first information report was taken suo motu, and the girl did not even need to go to a police station to record her statement. This is gladdening because the mental trauma of having to recount unsavoury details has been a major reason for women not trusting the police.
The police also deserve credit for taking complaints that come directly to their social media accounts seriously and acting quickly on it. Recently, the Thane police stood exposed when they asked a citizen tweeting to them about a blocked road to contact the Kalyan police as the area did not fall under their jurisdiction. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to intervene and give a dressing down to the Thane cops before they learned their lesson. In this respect, it is good to see the Mumbai police be proactive in their response to complaints on social media.
The incident will also encourage more such people to come forward and report everyday sexual crimes that they had earlier been conditioned to shrug off or suffer silently. And the more such cases are reported and taken to their logical conclusion, the less such crimes will occur.
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