Mumbai of late is becoming more infamous than popular. While the Mumbai Bomb Blasts rocked the nation, this incident has shocked the nation.

Cameraman Shadab Khan from Mid Day newspaper, published from Mumbai, was deputed at the Gateway of India to capture the mood of the supposedly high-spirited Mumbaikars on the New Year’s Eve; while standing on a temporary watchtower erected by the police, his lens instead captured two incidents of molestation of women in full public view, and in the presence of an ignorant group of nearly 50 cops ‘on duty’.

For all those who would blame the victim saying that she was not appropriately dressed (read scantly dressed) and therefore invited lecherous men to molest her, cameraman Shadab also captured another incident of molestation – that of a saree-clad women, at the same venue, and almost the same time; the saree-clad woman was lucky to have got help to move out before anything untoward could happen to her.

The problem is not with the dress; the problem is with the mindset;

Whatever, the fact remains that a woman was molested in full public view and no body came forward to help her friend rescue her?

The way the victimized women and their families are traumatized after reporting a crime like rape or molestation, no wonder this girl chose not to lodge a complaint with the police.

For once, I agreed with Bal Thackray and his views in the Shiv Sena mouth piece ‘Saamna’ that the incident should be taken seriously, and even if the victim has not come forward to register a complaint with the police, the police should book the culprits as soon as possible.

With five of the men in custody for interrogation, there are chances that the Mumbai police would try to do the needful.

I wonder if people would remember the Gateway of India for the right reasons.

This incident might project it as the Gateway of Indignity…

Shame Maharashtra! Shame India!