February 22, 2025

A pedestrian was hit by a speeding goods van on the streets of Delhi at 5.30 in the morning. The van driver got off, inspected the damage to his vehicle and drove off without even glancing at the man he had hit. The man lay there, bleeding to his death. Passersby, on foot, on bikes, in cars and on cycle rickshaws did not even bother to look at him. After a while, a rickshaw stopped and the passenger got off and approached the man, only to pocket his mobile phone that was lying next to him. Sometime later, two passersby approached the bleeding man and instead of helping him, took out his purse from the back pocket and went away. The man was picked up by police but was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

What is wrong with our society? There used to be the fear of harassment by police to bring an accident victim to hospital but even that has been done away by the Good Samaritan guidelines by the Supreme Court. So why people do not help accident victims is a mystery? One feels that despite the guidelines, ground realities have not changed and the police still harass the person who brings a victim to hospital.

And to rob a person bleeding to his death on the road is a social and moral crime of the worst kind. It seems that our conscience does not prick us at all and some of us indulge in the worst kind of behavior even in situations like the one that took place in Delhi.