It is not only our economy that is in the doldrums. The law and order scenario is equally bad. Even after public outcry in the December 16 Delhi gang rape, tales of molestations and rape pour in every day from different parts of the country.

The recent case of a photojournalist being raped in a deserted building near Mahalaxmi railway station is a manifestation of the steady loss of fear in the minds of evildoers who have no internal sanctions left to restrain them from committing such crimes. The culprits are mostly young men with no roots in the city, who revel in the anonymity that big cities offer and who need external sanctions like certain retribution to keep them on the straight and narrow path. And when they move in gangs or groups of young men they have an added feeling of power that comes with numbers.