Shame In Ujjain
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-09-28 07:53:20
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
In a shameful incident in Ujjain, a 15-year-old girl (earlier reports put her age at 12) who was raped and walked for nearly 8 kms in semi-nude and bleeding condition, was denied help by several households who closed the door on her face before she fainted in front of an ashram in the Badnagar area of the city. A priest from the ashram alerted the police and gave her clothes to cover herself. No one before that had the civic sense or human instinct to help a kid in distress and it speaks volumes about the heartlessness in society that people fear police harassment more than helping a person, especially a kid, in distress. No one even had the sense to alert the police or a hospital or any NGO about the girl. It shows that people are just not concerned about the troubles of others.
There has been no clarity even 72 hours after the incident and there is mismatch in what the police are saying and what the documents. There is confusion about the place of residence of the girl, how she reached Ujjain and who raped her. There have been no arrests yet although an auto rickshaw driver was questioned after blood stains were found on his vehicle. The police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident and are scanning CCTV cameras in the area she was seeking help in to get leads.
There must be community meetings actively initiated by the police in all cities and towns of India in which people must be informed that it is their duty as citizens to inform the police, either on the helpline or the nearest police station about any crime or untoward incident in their area without the fear of harassment from the police force. It is fortunate that the girl did not die from excessive bleeding. People must understand that saving a life and bringing the culprits to justice is the main thing. Today it happened with the girl they did not know. Tomorrow it might happen to someone they know when others would not help their acquaintance in trouble and then they would regret not helping the girl in distress.
