The molestation of two young women by a mob in Mumbai on New Year’s Eve lays bare once again the utter disrespect with which Indians treat women. The two women were coming out of a hotel in central Mumbai when a mob of around 70 men surrounded them.

They were groped and their clothes torn off. It appears that few in the crowd came to the rescue of the women.

The women have said that only one man in the crowd helped them by calling the police. As shocking as the behaviour of the mob is the response of Mumbai’s top cops. Police Commissioner D N Jadhav described the molestation as “a minor issue” and that “such things happen everywhere.” It is true the incident at Juhu is not an isolated one. The same night, a Swedish teenager was groped by men at a beach in Kochi.

A year ago, a girl was molested by a mob of New Year revellers at Mumbai’s Gateway of India. Indeed, women in India get molested everyday in buses, on roads and in crowded markets. It is unfortunate that what should have been condemned as a serious crime meriting stern action has been dismissed by the police as “a minor issue.”

Clearly, India’s streets are not safe for women. The incident in Mumbai will prompt our ‘moral police’ to order women to remain indoors and to dress and behave “appropriately”. But this is not a solution to the problem.

Security on our streets needs to be improved. Our police and courts need to change their attitude to molestation.
This is not just ‘eve-teasing’ as it is often euphemistically referred to. It is sexual violence and deserves stern punishment, not a light rap on the knuckles. Railway Minister Laloo Yadav’s two sons were reportedly roaming from one party to another on New Year’s Eve eve-teasing women in Delhi. Stern action against them will send a strong message that such behaviour will attract punishment.

Most importantly, we the people need to stop being mere onlookers when crimes are committed before our eyes.
A couple of years ago, a mentally challenged girl was gang-raped on a Mumbai suburban train even as scores of other commuters looked on silently. To blame the police alone is not enough. Civil society too should act to prevent crime. People should stop harassment of women when they see it happening. Those who watched the women being molested without calling for help deserve punishment as well.