Shahid Saiyad, Tariq Saiyad – sons of policemen posted in Surat – and Abu Bakr Sheikh allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in a moving car. The entire crime was captured by the culprits on a cell phone with the idea of blackmailing the victim. Surat police recovered the video clip from them when they were arrested. The three were sent to 14 days police remand by the court. Deepak Swaroop, the police commissioner of Surat, who has now been transferred, allegedly made a statement that the victim was in a compromising position with a fellow student of her tuition class when they were abducted. How does that justify rape, only Mr Swaroop can answer. According to reports he had also chastised the girl’s family for not taking care of the young girl and allowing her to venture out of the house alone so early in the morning (the victim and her family are to be blamed now, it seems). Not surprising in a country where in a certain college, girls are banned from wearing jeans to deter eve- teasers.
The three alleged rapists were taken to Surat civil hospital for medical examination where patients and other visitors at the hospital beat them up severely. People shouted slogans and expressed fears that the police would not take the case to its logical end because two of the accused were sons of police personnel. Most people I talked to about this incident criticized this sort of mob justice. General opinion was that it is a terrible thing for a mob to take the law into their hands. A lot of mistakes can be made and innocent people can be victimized. There is no way that mob justice can be condoned but common man has become so desperate in his bid to survive that he is left with little choice but to take law into his own hands. Mob justice may not be correct or fair, but it is effective and efficient. Due to corruption in our judiciary and police forces, criminals can sometime “buy” their freedom and society is left with no option but to react. I don’t think most people see mob justice as a first resort but sometimes it seems like the only way for those, whom the justice system has failed. When people lose confidence in the security apparatus of the state, what else do you expect? If the law enforcement officers do a fair job, there would be no room for mob justice. When the law starts protecting the ‘high-ups’ and people with connections, this is the only way left. People take the law into their hands because the criminal justice system has failed them.
We have seen the images of Chaman Matoo, father of the late Priyadarshini Matoo, Mrs. Neelam Katara, mother of the late Nitish Katara and Sabrina Lal, sister of the late Jessica Lal on our television screens fighting for justice for their loved ones. All three of them fought bravely and the gruesome murders took place in Delhi and NCR thus these cases received their fair share of media attention. I am not sure if justice would have prevailed if these tragedies had taken place in some remote area. Mob justice is wrong and two wrongs don’t make a right but how long can one continue to be wronged and not react!
from Vishesh :)
from Reema :)
29 Comments
June 15, 2009 at 1:48 am
It is a tough question, especially in a case like this. And I agree that the anger was because people didn’t have confidence in the justice system. Everyone knows that justice is either delayed or compromised. I think people need to vent their anger constructively in trying to bring some changes in to the judicial systems and their own thinking processes which led to the formation of such a system in the first place.
Destination Infinity
June 15, 2009 at 3:07 am
One good which might come out of it will be that the three rapists won’t dare to do something similar again.
I think such people should be hanged in public.
In the present scenario in India, I think mob justice is completely justified. Its better than fighting a case for 10 years.
June 19, 2009 at 10:57 am
Amit, the problem with mob justice is that vested interests can take advantage of mob mentality and innocent people can suffer due to that. Communal riots are an example of this phenomenon.
June 15, 2009 at 12:04 pm
hey prerna i was happy to see the way you concluded…mob justice is not the answer,yes. But then what is the answer? We need more gender sensitization and equality and bla bla…justice still seems to be available to the rich few, they manage to get speedy trials (read bails)
June 19, 2009 at 10:58 am
Thanks, Aniruddha.
June 15, 2009 at 12:42 pm
“Mob justice is wrong and two wrongs don’t make a right but how long can one continue to be wronged and not react!”-
This is a tricky question.
One is tempted to say that mob justice is okay. But once we approve this, it is likely to result in innocent people being thrashed on suspicion of guilt.
I agree with the first comment that people need to vent their anger constructively. After all, we are all part of this system and have contributed directly or indirectly to it being the way it is. We should work to improve it.
June 19, 2009 at 10:59 am
I absolutely agree with you Manju.
June 15, 2009 at 12:50 pm
We need fast disposal of cases to implement fear within law-breakers.
June 15, 2009 at 1:07 pm
These three guys apparently are serial rapists! It’s shameful the way the whole thing was handled by the police but not surprising. Scores of such rapes must be being hushed up by the police. What is the solution? Mob justice? Absolutely not. I am totally against it. Mobs are not rational and if given the green signal they can do anything, include catch hold of innocents and beat them up. yes, emotionally one feels happy when one knows that a known criminal has been beaten up but one has to keep one’s emotions aside. Mob justice can never be tolerated because its one has to think of the innocents that the mob might catch and thrash and even lynch on mere suspicion. We have to fight it through the proper channels.
June 19, 2009 at 11:02 am
You are absolutely right, Nita but I would like to confess that I felt happy when these guys were beaten up. In fact I would have been happier if their parents were there to see the spectacle and would not dare to defend them in their misdeeds.
June 15, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Well as you said Mob jusctice is not the answer..but then what is??….We haven’t really been able to find an answer to that.
June 15, 2009 at 8:03 pm
It is indeed sad that people are having to resort to mob justice.. while mob justice can never be condoned, I guess, people would not have to resort to it – if the other channels worked as they are supposed to..
June 16, 2009 at 4:15 am
“Mob justice is wrong and two wrongs don’t make a right but how long can one continue to be wronged and not react!”
I agree to that but as you mentioned most cases in remote villages have no voice so they never get justice.
On the other hand if we encourage mod justice then there will be chaos. It is tough!
June 16, 2009 at 9:55 pm
As much as police apathy and incompetence are horrible aspects of our law enforcement, i believe people taking the law in their own hands is a disturbing trend.
As it is, people in Delhi seem so lawless, i dread the day when everybody starts carrying guns and shooting people who get in the way.
June 19, 2009 at 11:05 am
AD, imagine if you find Delhi lawless, how would you describe the remote villages where might is right.
June 16, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Mob protests and people activism is good. That’s how justice has been delivered in some high profile cases in delhi. But taking it into own hands is another disturbing practice since mob is known to hit the “accused” who may or may not be “guilty.” Like it happened in Uma Khurana case couple of years ago. Mob who beat and hit can be myopic and motivated by their own frustrations rather than real cause.
June 17, 2009 at 10:24 pm
agree with Poonam here..the same case came to my mind too..
June 19, 2009 at 11:06 am
You are right, Poonam, I absolutely agree.
June 17, 2009 at 1:03 am
This country has mob culture ingrained
the people live in mobs along caste and religious lines
the politicians are a mob and have their own mobs which they religiously protect
No wonder this incident and countless others before happen repeatedly and frequently
what happened in nasik recently?
NCP mobsters ran riot destroying public and private property while the police watched…
Shiv sena guys (another mob) awakened from deep sleep by the mns vote cutting intervened to protect citizens, to an extent
The police action was requested by citizens there and the police declared some ncp mobsters as tadipaar .. guess what the Commissioner of Nasik Mishra was about to be transferred for the deed
Nashik revolts against transfer of top cop
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_nashik-revolts-against-transfer-of-top-cop_1264961
(ncp has home in maharashtra)
worse the 9/11 report wasnt tabled in assembly because some political bosses are indirectly blamed along with the commissioner who was proudly declaring that he has got a raise!
one more incident from nagpur which was quite unique… from my memory
http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/53067/
This country cannot protect all its citizens who are not politically or otherwise Connected !
No wonder a minister was busy planning elections sitting in the taj during the 7/11 attack!
June 19, 2009 at 11:09 am
Thanks for your analysis Prax.
Very well said- “people live in mobs along caste and religious lines”.
June 17, 2009 at 1:05 am
have u seen Ikiru ? u must watch it!
June 17, 2009 at 10:02 am
If you can’t move the law , move the people
June 17, 2009 at 7:15 pm
[...] love life… so I explore thinks that “mob justice may not be correct or fair, but it is effective and efficient”, [...]
June 19, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I guess there is only so much the common man can bear patiently. I second Nita’s view.
June 20, 2009 at 11:58 am
Right… So the only way out is to form a mob and beat the alleged culprits. We gave up on trying to correct the system way before we even got the system…
June 20, 2009 at 11:56 am
There can’t be a but at the end of that sentence. Mob justice is not right. Period.
If this discussion thread is anything to go by, we are doomed. So, we are ready to let go of “innocent until proven guilty” at the drop of a hat or for that matter a mere police statement about collecting evidence. The question of legal or illegal justice comes much later. It doesn’t even slightly trouble any of you one bit that these people had not yet stood trial. Following the laws doesn’t mean anything to any of you. You will not shout, discuss, ask for or worry about reforms that could restore your belief in the judicial process. Oh no… that takes time and effort. Apologizing for mob behaviour… yea that would be fun! Who gives two hoots about the constitution anyway…
June 23, 2009 at 7:22 pm
This post is very interesting. Mob justice is really a double ended sword. While it does instill a fear in the mind of the criminals and gets the wheels of the machinery to roll again, it can also go horribly wrong, as you have mentioned yourself.
Mob mentality and mob justice generally boils down to the “mob” part of the thing. It just depends upon the mentality of the people. While a mob could catch hold of a thief and beat him to death, they could also do the same to a couple of opposite castes found talking to each other or kissing or something like that. So it boils down to two different kinds of mobs. The more orthodox self righteous kind of mobs and the other ones which act against things such as thefts and rapes. And then again there’s this third kind of mobs which comes up against popular injustices, and these happen to usually be media created etc. While there’s no stopping the first kind of mobs, I’m sure the second kind would stop themselves when the judicial and police machinery gets working and people retain their faith in them.
There are many interesting theories about mobs that I’ve read. When a mob is chasing down a thief, are they really beating the crap out of him because of the theft or are they merely taking out their own frustrations on the person? Is it justice or is the person a mere punching bag for your own problems?
June 24, 2009 at 11:07 am
Mob justice shook me to the core whenever I get to read about them. I agree with you Pr3rna, there is something seriously wrong with the mob justice. Couple of years ago, three thieves were beaten to death in the respected area of Karachi by common average people who were just too angry because these same thieves had already looted other homes in the same locality and police failed to take any reaction. Its darn frightening.
June 27, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Mob justice is not much different from mob violence or justice in remote villages where women can be lynched for being dayans (witches), although peaceful protest, candle lighting, even burning effigies and shoe garlands are acceptable, and also very effective, but mob justice can result in misuse of mobs to settle scores.