Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Do Law or Goons rule Navi Mumbai?) that was published in Newsband

Do Law or Goons rule Navi Mumbai?

Six youths molested, assaulted woman for feeding stray dog, and also attacked her cousin. An MBA student was molested and beaten up by six local youngsters at Sanpada, even as a crowd of bystanders looked on, without helping her. Her cousin, who tried to protect her, was also assaulted.

The girl is also an animal activist, and she was feeding a lame stray dog in Sector 5 when the incident occurred. Six local youngsters had been teasing and harassing her for the past three days for feeding the stray dog. They had also been staring at her in a vulgar manner.

When she was feeding the black-and-white stray dog those local boys started passing lewd comments, insulting her family members as well. They also said that she should not feed this dog as it would survive without any help. The girl who is currently an intern at a corporate firm then immediately called her cousin to the spot and complained about the harassment. As her cousin walked towards the boys to talk to them, they attacked both of them, raining slaps and blows on them. Her cousin was shocked to see that these roadside rowdies were also hitting his sister on her stomach, chest and face. To protect her, he started covering her, but one well-built youngster punched him hard in his eye, A crowd of more than 100 people, including residents of the area, shopkeepers and employees of an eatery, watched the two being molested and assaulted by the goons, but did nothing to help them. Ten minutes later, the accused fled from the spot. Subsequently, the two victims walked to the nearest police chowky to lodge a complaint.

None of the residents cared to rescue the two when goons were beating them up. According to them, had they intervened, even they would have been beaten up. Nobody wanted to take 'panga' (challenge) with the ruffians and fight with them.

It is horrific that a young woman and her cousin were being humiliated and assaulted, while others watched on as if it was entertainment. The police must come down heavily on this lawlessness and arrest the accused.

The Turbhe police registered a case against the six unidentified youngsters, three of whom have been charged with molestation case and the others with assault.

This incident is a typical example of the kind of law and order situation prevalent in our city. It exposes not only the inefficiency of the police force but also the fact that more than hundred residents of the city could not show guts to challenge the six goons and save the two innocent persons from being harmed by the goons. The question that arises is whether Navi Mumbai is ruled by Law or goons?