[Pacifica]

Just saw this article in NDTV - Policemen caught on camera beating traffic offender with belts | NDTV.com - that a young man was thrashed with belts by the police for driving (speeding?) on the wrong side of the Noida - Greater Noida Expressway.

For the benefit of non-NCR residents, the Greater Noida Expressway is a particularly dangerous stretch of road - dimly lit, without access control, and full of maniac drivers speeding and pulling all sorts of dangerous stunts.

From the news story it seems this fellow was driving his Swift on the wrong side of the road. Now, there are service lanes on both sides of the highway and there really was no reason for this guy to be doing this - he was simply deliberately breaking the law and got caught doing so.

It seems the cops have been suspended for beating this guy. I'm rather upset about the suspension; people in India have become so incorrigible that only the "danda" is an effective deterrent now. At least for sometime people won't drive on the wrong side of this road after reading about this case.

[harit]

Originally Posted by Pacifica

Just saw this article in NDTV - Policemen caught on camera beating traffic offender with belts | NDTV.com ....... people in India have become so incorrigible that only the "danda" is an effective deterrent now. At least for sometime people won't drive on the wrong side of this road after reading about this case.

I am in total agreement. The thrashing was deserved, but in civil society cops are not supposed to thrash law breakers, at least in public view.

This is where laws come into effect. I do not touch my mobile while driving because, by law, the cop can take it away and I have to go to a magistrate to get it back. Good law, and would be more effective if implemented whole heartedly. Same is with drunk driving, when you hear that guys spent a night in the lock-up, Arthur Road Jail of all the places, you will think twice about doing this.
I will always maintain that poor implementation is the root cause of people not following laws.

Cheers harit

[vij]

Here is the video of the guy getting beaten. Some guy caught this on video and uploaded to youtube. Apparently this video got the policemen suspended.

Policemen caught on camera beating traffic offender with belts - YouTube

I dont like this one-bit. They had no business to touch the guy.

[drmohitg]

How can you justify this? This is shocking to say the least. If the guy broke a rule then book him and let him come to court. Arrest him and present him before a magistrate. But no body gave the right to this cop to deliver the instant justice that he sees fit for the crime.

[rakirank]

This poses a moral dilemma doesn’t it?

On one hand the traffic manners in our country definitely need to evolve and quickly. The same cannot be achieved without some drastic/draconian measures as exercised by the cops.
On the other hand, it is absolutely deplorable that the upholders of law have turned lawbreakers.

Would they be as efficient in meting out similar treatment to all who find themselves on the wrong side of the law without bias or prejudice based on factors such as money, clout, political connections, etc, etc?

I am all for stringent action but it needs to be applied uniformly to bring about the changes we desire.

But, there is no point in browbeating a section of society while turning a blind eye to the transgressions of another (read influential) .

[Pacifica]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

How can you justify this? This is shocking to say the least.

Seeing people drive like this (and worse, actually) every single day in the NCR is what pushes me to feel that perhaps the odd thrashing to particularly egregious offenders is the only thing that might cure our pathological road indiscipline.

Don't forget, this guy was driving on the wrong side, on an already dangerous enough expressway when there is a service road that he could have used, and was endangering the lives of everyone else who was actually following the rules.

[libranof1987]

The Delhi-Noida Expressway no doubt is a dangerous road to drive on.

However, this physical abuse simply cannot be tolerated.

Agreed a lot of motorists are thick-skinned to learn from warnings or challans but this crosses the line.

Both the offender (for breaking law) and the cop (for physical abuse) should be penalized.

[singhsid]

I live in Noida and know how well trained and committed the police here is to law and order. Most of the Noida's finest are just a bunch of lathi wielding villagers who gave a bribe to land the job or belonged to the correct caste or knew the correct guy. They are least bothered about law, proper process or even decency for that matter as long as the government keeps paying them a salary for doing nothing and errant (and sometimes non-errant) drivers keep lining their pockets.

In all probability the lad was not beaten up for driving on the wrong side, he was probably thrashed because he dared to argue with "The Law" :(

However, I do think that he did deserve a beating for driving on the wrong side. We can sit and debate for donkey's years about the rule of law and the legality of what every party did but the fact remains that the average Indian motorist has become immune to such trifles like rules, fines and public safety. If a beating can deliver the message then why not?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

But no body gave the right to this cop to deliver the instant justice that he sees fit for the crime.

This does not look like instant justice too. I mean he has been brought to the PS and then beaten, it did not happen on the road then and there. There is a much bigger mystery to this one. I don't think any traffic cop, however bad he/they is/are will ever resort to this kind of beating. There is something else that we are not aware of here.

[amitoj]

Whatever be the crime committed, it is not bigger than the crime committed by the policemen in thrashing the fellow. When those who are supposed to uphold and implement the rule of the law break it so blatantly, then where is justice in that?
This is a terrible, dark downward spiral. If you make the laws stronger, then those implementing them will feel more powerful.

I cant help but feel a little hopeless.

[scopriobharath]

I don't find any harm in "hitting" the person. People have become so thick-skinned that they just break traffic rules as they please. If a policeman "fines" a motorist, say coming down on the wrong side, people abuse the policeman and try to talk their way out. Very few percentage of people really feel sorry and don't repeat the mistake.

I believe in this - "If you are caught violating a rule, pay up the fine or get jailed. Period." I have seen people arguing with police for challaning for usage of mobile phones while driving and driving on wrong side etc.

I say that the police man is wrong at hitting, but people have become so thick-skinned that sometimes i feel "Lathi" or "Military Rule" is what India Needs.

This is synonymous with this - If we shout at someone who stamped our leg in a bus "Idiot - why did you stamp my foot", the stamper would argue why you called him an idiot, his action of stamping takes a back foot. SIMILARLY, in this case, the potential threat and danger the person posed by driving on the wrong-side is totally ignore or not brought to the limelight, where-as Policeman hitting him is being projected.

Incredible India ??? - I say Pathetic India.

[mempheS.D]

Brutal video indeed. Or maybe it feels so because the dude was screaming his vocal chords out to attract attention of public. An act some miscreants pull up from under their sleeve in such situations to deviate attention.

I totally agree with the opinion that the law-implementors are not allowed to deviate from what's defined in the law book.

On the contrary, think about this - what would have been the general opinion on this forum had the guy who was driving on the wrong side of the expressway had a TBHPian ram into the car and critically injured or maybe even no more?

In a country where MIGHT IS RIGHT, unfortunately, WRONG MIGHT NEEDS TO BE OVERPOWERED BY RIGHT MIGHT...and NOT JUST RIGHT. I may sound rebellious while saying this, but, it's disgusting to see this CHALTA HAI attitude prevail so comfortably.

To add to all this - an unworthy HUMAN RIGHTS community emerges from "somewhere" and starts justifying the WRONG-DOER by totally belittling the crime. A countrywide example of a national terrorist in safe and expensive captive speaks volumes already.

All said and done - I doubt those cops in this video were actually abusing the dude physically for the crime he committed. If it is so, those cops need a pat on their backs for doing their violent bit to control this maniacism on the road. But, I heavily doubt it.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Pacifica

Seeing people drive like this (and worse, actually) every single day in the NCR is what pushes me to feel that perhaps the odd thrashing to particularly egregious offenders is the only thing that might cure our pathological road indiscipline.

Don't forget, this guy was driving on the wrong side, on an already dangerous enough expressway when there is a service road that he could have used, and was endangering the lives of everyone else who was actually following the rules.

You know its not just Noida. Its with every place in this country. I get equally frustrated when I see such morons drive on the road be it Delhi, Bangalore or vadodara currently. But that does not mean that the person deserves this kind of a treatment. I was born in a democracy and would like to continue living in one, however pseudo at times it may get!

[Guna]

If the cop had slapped the driver when he was caught red handed (out of impulse), it is somewhat understandable. Here the cops have taken him to the police station and beating him!

[suhaas307]

This isn't new. In India, even the innocent get sent to the station and thrashed. In this case though, you have this guy deliberately breaking a rule. Speeding on the wrong side of the road endangering so many lives apart from his own. That's huge.

But it still doesn't justify the thrashing, whatever may be the road-violation.

Cops these days though seem to be running out of options. What with hot-shots getting away by flashing business cards and making calls, ensuring that the cop - who is incidentally doing his duty - gets a mouthful from his department for stopping the violators. Sometimes you wonder, how else will people learn?

I've begun to appreciate ever so slightly, these rogue-cops who enforce their own brand of rough-justice. The principle behind it, of course.