[Note: I was trying to use the “embed video” feature now offered by IBN-CNN in India, but it was taking way too long to load. So here’s a link.]
“This is making the South Asian women’s circles headlines,” advises an anonymous tipster. Thanks for alerting us to the extremely ugly incident that took place during New Year’s Eve at the Gateway of India in Mumbai, where the crowd gathered in the same way it does in Times Square in New York City or similar plazas worldwide. Only here, there was an attack on a young couple in the middle of the crowd in which a mob of about 60 men molested the young woman for ten minutes with no one coming to her and her friend’s aid. A photographer for Mid-Day, Shadab Khan, witnessed it all:
On New YearÂ’s Eve, I was supposed to click pictures of revellers at the Gateway of India, but what I witnessed instead has left me shaken.
A young woman was groped by some 60 perverts in plain public view, while her male friend, who tried to protect her, was pushed aside violently.
The 10 harrowing minutes the helpless woman cried for help as the perverts abused her, shook my faith in the city I have lived in all my life. I thought such things happened only in Delhi. I was clearly wrong.
I was at the place at 11.35 pm with my camera, taking pictures that captured the mood of the New Year celebrations. I was atop the temporary watchtowers erected by the cops.
After a few minutes, as the crowd grew larger, I could vaguely make out a youth aged around 25, surrounded by a mob of around 60 to 70 people.
The perverts tore off her dress in the middle of the teeming crowd When I zoomed in, I saw the girl of about the same age being groped by the crowd.
The girl was screaming for help but her voice was drowned in the commotion. Her companion tried to shield her but found himself helpless.
The presence of 50-odd policemen at the site did not deter them. Even as she cried pitifully, I saw them pull at her dress, leaving it torn from below the waist.
In the middle of this pushing and shoving, the girl fell down. The wild men, taking advantage of her, pounced on her with even more venom. After an agonising 10 minutes, the two managed to extricate themselves from the crowd and leave the venue.
Numerous Indian outlets have now picked up the story. I’m waiting for Mumbai’s strong female bloggers like Uma and Sonia to contribute their thoughts; it seems they are still on vacation. Amit Varma has an item on the incident, and picks up on some idiotic interpretations being distilled by so-called experts:
The Times of India brings us some bizarre reactions on the incident. First, Dr Mahinder Watsa, “an expert in sexual medicine,” says:
This is a rage attitude of devil-may-care.And then, Dr Harish Shetty brings capitalism into it:
[T]here is this global selling of ecstasy pushed forward by a market-driven economy, and so, the line of demarcation between fun and ecstasy is getting blurred. Hence, we find some youngsters indulging in such behaviour.
As disgusting as incidents like this one are, it’s just as repulsive when the (men in the) so-called “responsible media” deploy horseshit such as this from (male) so-called experts to explain away actions that are just plain violent, ignorant, criminal and wrong. How is there ever going to be any progress?
Kinda confused when one of the articles I read state “1500 men” gathered at Gateway . . . turns out it truly was a sausagefest judging from the video.
Man they need to start handing out pepper spray bottles to women so they can atleast fight back. Everytime something like this hits the news there is always mention of ‘bystanders’ and ‘spectators’ and people who did not act . . . deplorable.
Of course its not surprising that the usual suspects will come out, blame the west, capitalism, western culture, British imperialism, and outline a plan to ‘protect women’ by perhaps beating kissing couples or burning Valentine’s Days cards.
I was in Vegas a few years back and saw a similair incident on the strip in front of Caesar’s Palace. They took off a girl’s top and skirt, assuming she was as drunk as they were. After that, we all swore never to ring in the new year’s in a public venue for fear of such mob mentality.
That’s disgusting, but read the paragraph below in context of Abhi’s post from yesterday Are we monkeys riding tigers?
Every time something like that happens there is outrage and bad excuses repeated. But no real changes to prevent that from happening again.
That story isn’t about Eve-Teasing, it’s criminal rape and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. No need for euphemisms in the story headline.
Solution: tasers.
VOMIT.
I wish I could stop hearing about these incidents. I feel that until we do away with cute phrases like “eve-teasing” and call it what it is–sexual harrassment–it is too difficult to make any progress. I myself have had my breasts grabbed in a crowd and, when I tried to smack the person, found the were already gone. Its a horrible feeling, knowing some faceless hand grabbed you like that and there is nothing you can do about it. And its definitely NOT teasing.
It happened with the New York Puerto Rican day parade attacks (2001??) and in Seattle Mardi Gras attacks as well (2001, somebody was beaten to death).
Debates about the reasons for crime are probably as old as crime it self. Sociologists have been fighting about it for decades. It is in our best interest (as a society) to try and figure out why this stuff happens and if possible stop it from happening. It obviously stems from a need for us to protect oursleves from this sort of stuff in the future. What is so “repulsive” about this sort of punditry?
True indeed. I was trying in the title to combine “New Year’s Eve” and “eve teasing” but it wasn’t happening. Hence, new title for the post.
india is sitting on a volcano of envy and greed. the misery of those who arent part of the boom will be nurtured and exacerbated by those who are riding the boom. it is a vicious cycle, because those who risk easing up on their brutality against the masses must themselves fall beneath the wheels and get crushed to a mass of pink and white ooze. it has been this way for a while and is only going to get worse. you will see a rise in private militia, contract killings and gated communities. you will see vile sex crimes from the rich like you could never imagine – because the lust of the indolent needs to be appeased through new depths of depravity. you will see violent robberies from the poor like you could never imagine – because you can only beat a person only so much until he loses all that defines humanity. you will see pedophilia and you will see elder abuse because the most vulnerable will be the first to get crushed. and while you all take great pride in india – own this up. this is part of you. you feed the beast. i know i do it so cant wash my hands off it – just try to stick my head in snow so i go numb. mera bharat fucking mahaan indeed.
This is horrid..and sadly, I’m not surprised. I witnessed a similar incident (on a smaller scale) the last time I visted in India as I was passing by on a bus and nothing was being done. And I completely agree, the name ‘eve-teasing’ must be changed to what it is and people need to get serious.
Man people over there are so damn weak. Seriously, 70 guys trying to rape 1 woman in public and no one does a damn thing!! Indian men seem to have a real hard time resisiting the temptation of touching women.
But since there is a genocide of girls going on in India, soon they will have to fight the temptation of touching each other.
Reading this made me so sick my stomach started to hurt. This is awful, disgusting, and horrible.
Jay:
As a feminist, I find it repulsive that people would chalk up this kind of behavior to a “boys will be boys” or “well, [male] youth love ecstasy” kind of explanation. It is as disgusting to me as the “she was dressed provocatively, and thus deserved to be raped” explaantion. Not only do I personally feel it ignores personal responsibility, but further, I would really like to give all my guy friends more credit and simply expect more of them, especially vis-a-vis better behavior.
If I may offer a solution, I remember a case in Korea or HK where a girl’s dog took a dump on the subway and she didn’t do anything about it. Everyone on the subway took pictures and she was harassed because (if you’ve seen the video) she was being an ass about it. This kind of shit will stop when people in india start using their cellphones and “michael richards” some of these asswipes. I don’t believe in vigilante justice, I certainly dont’ advocate putting these people’s addresses, but some form of public humiliation wouldn’t hurt.
Camille:
All of the above are quotes from the TOI article cited. Interesting syntax aside, what do you find objectionable?
I haven’t seen a video of Dog Poop Girl, but the picture is priceless.
But seriously, I don’t believe that “this kind of shit will stop when people in india start using their cellphones and “michael richards” some of these asswipes.” There’s no guarantee predators will stop even if they know they’re being filmed: check out this winner.
(Link)
Righteous indignation and hand-wringing are wasted emotions against incidents like this. People need to direct their ire at lack of crowd control and visible presence of law enforcement to ensure better control of a rowdy crowd of revellers. This is not unique to India, but true of mobs everywhere.
fyi – Faster server to download the IBN video report
DJ, I think that it certainly raises awareness. There are great websites like Hollaback NYC that posts stories of people who are harassed and are encouraged to post pictures of the abuser.
They might not stop, but at least others in the area can keep their guard up.
constructive advice.
i believe that folks in any part of the world are no more or less depraved than folks in any other part of the world. similar events happen all over the place. the distinctions lie in societal behavior before, through and after the response.
Before: (this is not to blame the woman here but) at least out here there is sufficient knowledge out here to help women look out for danger signs before situations go out of control. the same goes for streetproofing kids. to the best of my knowledge this doesnt exist in india.
Through: Better law enforcement and mob control practices. In the few mass attended events I have been to, it has been very evident that the police are present and in control. you see these guys in neon green jackets periodically swing through crowds. In one case when things were getting bad I saw how the police persons linked hands and swung through the crowd to cordon off the roughnecks. there was method there. it is a vast improvement over a lone police guy swinging around a cane. any sign of trouble and you can be sure he’ll make himself scarce.
After: Out here, such an incident would be followed up by a ‘take back the night’ event as a show of force. i personally think it is healthy. unfortunately, and this is where the class system shows up – and unfortunately the party girls (who would like to protect their way of life) and the social workers (who have tremendous organizational and bullying skills) are oil and water – i would be very surprised if they joined forces.
i’ll leave off the post-incident investigation and miscreant apprehension because i’d prefer ot be realistic. that’s a bhang-pipe dream in india.
This is not new. Most of my friends stopped going to Gateway of India about 15 years ago. Same w/ Ganapati Visarjan which happens to be a religious ceremony.
Ever tried to stop a riot?
If this statement were uttered by a nondesi, he/she would be flamed. Why do we have to put up w/ this? A friend of mine had an unfortunate experience at Pamplona festival in Spain. Let’s not make sweeping generalizations please.
This is upsetting. I was fondled by a unknown hand at Crawford market in Mumbai in 2004. When I grabbed the hand it turned out to belong to a man who was married with children and who first tried the “What the hell are you doing” approach and when I punched him in the face and people did come to me (my family was with me too) he immediately apologized and tried to make me believe it was a mistake. People kept saying “Madam janedo galti ho gaye.” I’m sure the asshole will go do this to another woman who probably won’t protest.
This sort of shit happens all the time. I remember an episode of The Amazing Race where the woman had to travel in a Mumbai train and came out crying because she was fondled the entire ride by numerous hands. Unfortunately this is not uncommon in crowds in India.
Having said that…how what? We constantly hear these stories, we feel sick and outraged and obviously everyone agrees it’s crap but then what? What happens? The nari andolan women will come out and march. Perhaps Shiv Sena might throw in some muscle and noise. But then what? What are we constructively doing about it? I hate to say it but absolutely not a damn thing. The best solutions people have found to these situations in India is to “avoid” situations that would put the women in danger.
It will take a few generations if not more to steer the 1 billion ton ship in the right direction towards a place where women will be respected.
Poonjabi (love the name):
There was some video where a korean uncle was loudly admonishing a girl and she got harassed for it later for being uncouth towards her elders. May not be the dog poop girl. I’m not offering a one-all be-all solution. But I do think that with the prevalence of SMS messaging and video circulation in India, if a-holes like the ones in the picture were identified in a similar way to the dog poop girl, then there would be a message sent to said perverts. It won’t stop people like Hoyt, but it may act as deterrence.
Personally, I would prefer that kind of citizen policing (not physical violence mind you), where everyone everywhere has the ability to surveill people. The other option is the kind of surveillance they have in Britain and coming soon to your hometown, with a video camera everywhere and no one knows who’s watching.
Tangentially, has anyone been following the horrible NOIDA serial killer case that’s going on right now? Some middle-aged guy who raped and killed (and had his servant kill) something like 20 kids (mostly children of migrant laborers) over 2 years. Most of the remains were found on his property. What it has in common with this case is the utter apathy of the police…in Mumbai because the victim was a woman, in NOIDA because the victims were the poorest of the poor.
I spent fall semester in India and during our visit to the city of Mysore during Dussera, a similar thing happened to my group. Five of us were surrounded by a group of men then groped and harrassed. I think these explanations by “experts” are the most ridiculous things I’ve heard. There is no explanation or excuse for this type of behaviour.
I wouldn’t say its a generalization to say that many indian men are closeted perverts, or at least suppressed sexually. I liken it to the geek stereotype in america, who clam up around an actual girl. It IS a stereotype, but have you ever been to a comic-con? Its a generalization again, but you can learn a lot about a culture by watching what they watch, and watching bollywood films and television stations, it is so obvious that actual human sexuality is something that modern indians are afraid of. Somehow it’s ok to fetishize it through song and dance and wet sarees and the like. The same can be said in america as well, they have some BS rule about not showing a female having an orgasm on television, but its ok if the guy does.
You can blame it on anything. Blame it on victorian influence from the british. If it’s happening most places where men gather, what else would you assume? These guys should be in jail, instead its just the next day’s saucy headline. This isn’t the first or the 10th or the 50th time? How many times should it happen so we can finally generalize about sexual and gender oppressiveness in India? That’s 70 men lecherously groping at ONE girl. I doubt all of them were friends or drunk or “boys”.
How to fight
‘
Here comes the garbage. Look up what the word “generalization” means.
I rode public transportation on a daily basis when I lived in Hyderabad, and had various parts of my anatomy subjected to random frotteurism on a daily basis. I rode public transportation on a daily basis when I lived in Boston, and this happened to me maybe once in the 2 years I lived there. I would NEVER say that Indian men are closeted perverts, but I think it’s considered to be something you can get away with. In America, I guess men have bars and dance clubs where they get to inappropriately grab women, so they leave them more or less alone on public transportation. I would say the verbal harassment in East Coast cities is on a par with India. What happened to this woman is a horrible extreme case and I think could have happened anywhere, not just in Bombay, and is nowhere near the same as being groped by one sick guy on a bus.
I agree, there is absolutely no justice. If there was a little more law and order, then folks would think twice.
Or, like my suggestion, if women carried mace/pepper spray (better yet, a gun) folks would think twice.
But to suggest that “many” Indian men are closet perverts is such a loaded piece of bullshirt. Anangbhai can get away with be by a) being a desi when it would not be tolerated if remarked about any other racial/ethnic group and b) he used the somewhat ambiguous quantifier “many” so that when he is called out he can tell us that’s not what he meant to say.
Ya, I think that desi men are only as perverted as the next guy, and I’m sure men everywhere have outlets for their perversion that, if not sanctioned, are somewhat tolerated.
I think pepper spray is a great idea, except, according to the Cambridge, Mass. Police department a few years ago, it doesn’t work on people from groups that eat a lot of spicy food. 🙂
I used an umbrella to poke people who got to close…it seemed to work.
Also, is this really a ‘South Asian headline?’ Not something I particularly hear about ever happening in Sri Lanka or Nepal or Pakistan (though they have different problems). Seems uniquely Indian, possbily seen in some East Asian type countries.
Not something I particularly hear about ever happening in Sri Lanka or Nepal or Pakistan (though they have different problems).
They pour acid on women’s faces in Bangladesh, and in Pakistan, they just disappear. The reason you do not hear much (of news like above) is women do not share space with unrelated men in public that often.
All Others,
The video is really sad, disturbing, and most of all made me very angry. I do not think Indian men are any more perverted than any one else. However, there is a strong “repressed” sexuality in desh unless you are a folky from St. Stephen’s College or JNU.
A simple solution is effective, strict law enforcement. No chalta hai.
hairy_d has a point, this and similar mess will increase with gluttony for greed and envy.
If the state governments of India succeeded in improving law enforcement a lot of other problems would also get solved (like caste discrimination, child marriage, and so on). Also I am sure it would expose a lot of arcane laws too! Now why isn’t law enforcement ever on the portfolio of a party running for elections?
I think this is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time without the right equipment. Ask a seasoned Mumbaikar before you venture out feeling all “festive”. I say she should have just hung out at Monte’s and had a beer. By the way the safest I’ve felt was during the Tazia processions in Mumbai (especially in and around Minara Masjid and Md Ali Rd). The reason being that the stakes were even , even with knives and all. When your friends ask you to help with distribution of Falooda and water during Muharram, you know you’re the king!! Mess with me now Pappu!
I’ve been grabbed on a non-crowded pavement in a very posh part of Delhi too, so I’d say the crowds offer opportunity and license but the mentality is what is most important – I was grabbed by one of a group of passing schoolboys, and when I held on to one of them (hostage) till he got his runaway “friend” back, their passing (female!) teacher said “rehne do, kya baat hai, ladke hain”…the cop I called was singularly uninterested in helping, and ran off. Men will do this sort of thing in many places given the opportunity, and holding them accountable is the only thing that can change this, but when law enforcement authorities, elders and so on refuse to recognize these crimes as crimes, what do you expect? Sorry, it IS a desi culture problem, even if other cultures have similar issues (there was a very similar occurrence that shocked everyone in Cairo, where I live, recently, during Eid ul-Fitr).
The culprits have been caught as per latest news. Hope they get the dereved punishment!
Um, all of it is semantically null? Analysis can be used to address the problem, but here it is being used to pretend to address the problem until people’s attention fades.
This generalization (as opposed to “all Indian men are sexually repressed” or “Indian men are perverts”) seems to be warranted. As other female commenters have noted, it is a qualitatively different experience, on a day-to-day basis, going around in public in India versus in the US (can’t speak for Spain).
God Almighty. What an absolute bunch of spineless cowards, for not stopping what was happening and (even worse) for actually participating in the attack. Something really is rotten in the state of
DenmarkDelhi/India.I agree with Kush T and Hairy_D’s points above too.
Deepa,
Read the sentences again. Find out what “the business of deterrence is missing” means, or “the scant regard for the law” or “mixture of indiscipline and a case of things getting out of hand (law, mainly)” or “collapse of judicial mechanism” mean.
It is a law and order problem, people are not afraid of getting caught, they are used to behaving like shits and getting away with it, the courts don’t work. Do you see a suggested solution in those answers? What more do you want these talking heads to say anyway?
“This generalization….seems to be warranted”
SnarkOn: Seriously, take a deep breath and stop thinking like a chick. Think like a real person. /SnarkOff Is that warranted?
Sheesh!
Jay”Grabby”V
This incident is really said, the explanations are equally outrageous. One thing that we shouldnÂ’t forget is that such incidents are not isolated to India but happen most everywhere there are uncontrolled mobs. Sweeping generalizations about any one and their sexuality doesnÂ’t do the discussion any good. Most all women who travel in Bombay locals on a regular basis know how the handle such people, that is precisely why Bombay is one of the safest cities for women in India.
I will not even begin to comment on what goes on in Delhi where a friend was groped in her car, a girl with two male companions was kidnapped at gun point in Vasant Vihar and a foreign tourist was kidnapped and raped in south Delhi. The problem in my opinion is too many people and two few able law enforcers, many people with chalta hai attitude, as long as that doesnÂ’t change incidents like these may not go away.
Typical backward Indian behavior…you would think by now Indians would stop blaming the West for their entrenched societal and gender imbalances…many of the so-called Indian values are hypocritical at worst.
A single lathi strike from a policeman would have been enough to scatter the crowd. My bullshitting withstanding, more cops isn’t the solution. They’ve already confiscated the pictures from the photographer, and I’m sure they’re looking at them over and over and over to “solve” this heinous crime.
I still think public humiliation would be effective for this solution. A garland of chappals and being paraded around wearing blackface isn’t enough.
I apologize if my comment above somehow comes across as defensive of the city or the incident. Having lived in Bombay, Delhi and other parts of the world was trying to bring a different point of view to some of the other comments. Neel, I understand your rage but no one here is trying to imply that the west is to blame for India’s societal woes. I feel if we keep to the issue at hand the discussion can be constructive.
Anang,
I am not sure if you are referring to my comment above, I didnÂ’t suggest more cops, I suggested more able cops. India has plenty of cops but if you have had any experience in dealing with the police in India, you would know how able they are.
The reason you do not hear much (of news like above) is women do not share space with unrelated men in public that often.
Good point.
I still think public humiliation would be effective for this solution. A garland of chappals and being paraded around wearing blackface isn’t enough.
How about some plain ol’ imprisonement instead of parading people in blackface and public humiliation. Next you would be advocating for castration.
This actually is in some ways similar to the insanity which took place at Central Park a few years back though the number of victims there was close to 50.
Just an FYI…Dr. Mahinder Watsa writes the mostly offensive, often medically incorrect, and strange yet funny “Ask the Sexpert” column in the Mumbai Mirror’s “You” section. I wouldn’t really give much credence to his words regarding this incident and how it reflects on Indian men.
I do think that there is a scary aspect (for a woman) of being anonymous in a crowd where that is happening. Strangely, I have also heard of times where people will kick the crap out of the person that is harassing someone else. I wonder what makes people turn on that switch (to act) versus turn it off. (I’m thinking of the guy in NYC that saved a fellow commuter from being run over in the subway).
This whole thing was really sad and it reminded me when two women were stabbed by a crazy person at the gateway and a similar audience just watched. Only one person helped as others watched one woman lie in a pool of her own blood while the other ran around asking people to help them. They showed photographers taking their photos too.
I’m a little tired of hearing “this happens everywhere” arguments everytime shit like this happens. Yeah it happened at the Puerto Rican Day parade a few years ago and was a disgrace to this city and everyone was outraged about it. It is not average behavior on a normal day. Nearly 50 women were groped stripped etc and nearly 20 men were arrested as well.
The point is the tendency to always bring up other similar problems in other cultures/countries to somehow counter argue these incidences in India. It’s not some kind of competetion. Can we please refrain? As a woman nothing is more disgusting than to have someone tell me, well you got groped in India, a woman is raped X number of times in the United States. WTF what does it have to do with the price of oil in China???
Sexuality is a taboo, not just repressed but there is no outlet for the male youth in India and repression (without consequences and culture/law forcing you) this kind of behavior is bound to happen. We need to call it what it is? I hate the 80 different strokes of political correctness that needs to be painted before one qualifies to have an opinion about this. Other countries where similar sexual conservatism exists strict laws and dire consequences keeps people in line.
When a policeman or even the community at large like what SP said above doesn’t think it’s a problem how will the problem be ever fixed?
I’m a little tired of hearing “this happens everywhere” arguments everytime shit like this happens.
Jane: I didnt reference the Central Park incident to make any sort of an argument. There really is no argument though I do appreciate your point about citing to similar incidents which have happened around the globe might have the inadvertent result of mitigating the primal shock/outrage which we all feel when such an incident takes place. Thank you for raising my consciousness.