Mumbai: Assam is not an isolated case when it comes to molestation. CNN-IBN looks at Mumbai where a long list of molestation cases still await conviction in a city once considered safe for women.
In January 2007, a woman was brutally molested by a mob at the iconic Gateway of India, following which there was outrage across the nation. Shockingly, no case was ever registered as the woman failed to come forward.
And only one person was booked, that too for stealing the victim's mobile.
Exactly a year later, in 2008, in a repeat of the case, two women were molested outside a five star hotel in Juhu. In this case too, the photographers became complainants, but with the victims, who were NRIs, having left the country soon after, the case made no headway.
The humiliation and trauma of the incident, activists believe, makes the victim hesitant in following up the case. But why are the police helpless, even when presented with irrefutable photographic evidence?
Over the years, the city police have made many short term arrangements, including separate entrances for men and women at Gateway and asking hoteliers to protect patrons from harassment. In some parts of the city, an eve-teasing squad too has been formed but convictions are still rare.
In 2011, two youngsters – Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes – were killed while trying to protect their female friends from sexual harassment. The common thread in all these cases, Mumbaikars, several of them just stood and stared. If the city has to retain its tag of being safe, the Mumbaikars need to stand up and be counted.
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