[StepUP!]

Recently, I and my wife were blessed with a baby girl! I mean we are ecstatic with newly bestowed parenthood. And news like this runs shiver down my spine. God forbid but, what if I am the victim in such situations? I really bend in knees with this thought.

I love India very much and have never thought of settling abroad. But, sometimes incidents like this make me rethink of my decision.

[carwatcher]

I read on one website that the father of the girl mentioned that they heard the loud sound of metal piece falling and they didn't stop after that and continued driving.

Then they heard that sound for the second time after a gap of around 1 KM then only they stopped.

The gang has 15-20 members scattered over 1-2 kms along the roadside and try all possible tricks. So in conclusion, the driver can't be entirely blamed.

At the same time the statement also can be taken with a pinch of salt as now all the media channels are falling over each other for the interview but at the same time it is also a fact that their business is of taxi only so they may be aware about such incidents and may be speaking truth.

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

There was a serious lapse of judgement on the part of the driver. He shouldn't have stopped at night, with women on board, period.

[MDED]

Having lived in Bihar and faced lot of hardships, I am disgusted to note the audacity of criminals to strike at will. We all are discussing if anything hits our car, our first reaction is to stop and check and what not! Come on folks, two women were raped multiple times by criminals in front of their family members.
Pause and think about their trauma. In India we do not have any value for life. Imagine how these ladies are going to live their rest of the lives with this trauma! Even capital punishments to such shameless criminals will not be able to heal the catastrophic wound which these ladies will be nursing for years to come.
I think we need to teach our children right from grassroot level about what is right and what is wrong! And teach them that WOMEN are not to be OBJECTIFIED!

We all bhpians lets take a pledge today to look for each other on the road with sanity and drive with grace and tactfully.
Period and peace!

[ksakotai]

It is natural that we all express our anguish, outrage at this atrocity. It seems these are happening at increasing frequency.

I have a suggestion - cant we the members of TBHP come up with a set of TODOs for road travellers for their own safety, both from criminals and from accidents/calamity that, in collaboration with police, petrol stations / workshops etc can serve as a handy directory that travellers can rely upon.

I am sure businesses along highways will only be too happy to cooperate because it will boost their brand image.

This can be put as an app which anyone can download free on their mobile. With most people familiar with how apps work, I think this will be a boon to highway travellers.

We can also have cooperation with google maps, and network providers, law enforcement, govt highway departments, etc.

I know there will be skeptics, but if someone from our team starts the initiative millions of highway travellers will be forever thankful. I have only outlined the broad overview of the idea, and many things can be incorporated, like hospitals, etc with their phone numbers in the app, etc etc.

Anyone take up the initiative? I know there are a lot of bright techies in this group.....

- Krishnan

[DwarkaDelhiWala]

When young i read a book - Confessions of a Thug by Philip Meadows Taylor. The book vividly describes the intercity travel in 19th century India including how local rulers used to get a 'cut' from highway robbers. Name of Gwalior's scindia is also mentioned.

That book jolted me to realities of traveling long desolate stretches doted with spots of teeming utterly poor population and the impossibility of policing them (taking for granted that police are not on 'hafta' take from robbers).

Before reading the book, i used to roam around extensively during holidays on a bajaj 'Chetak' from Delhi to to Himalayas passing through western UP generally around 4-7 AM.

Since then, i'm extremely careful traveling at night even on Ring Road in Delhi not to speak of interstate to anywhere.

In the dusk of my lifetime, T.V images of the SHO getting his feet massaged by a man in police station makes me think - have these 'netas' and policemen not replaced the British? Would i and my family had lead a more secured life under British rulers instead of these police/bureaucracy/netas?

[sgiitk]

Situation in UP is going from bad to worse. There seems to be a total nexus between the criminals, local cops and politicians, all part of the conspiracy. Rapes and robberies are reported daily, and the police and the system could not care less. We are reaching the state when travel has to be between sunrise and sunset, and that too on a prayer. Caste is supreme. Most lower level cops are been hired only on that consideration. Competence, starting from the very top is at a total discount. See the statements of some politicians and their minions.

[creative420]

Another incident in UP: http://m.timesofindia.com/city/barei...w/53511974.cms

[phamilyman]

The problem in India is not just the incident but the media which is lunatic and adds severe insult to injury. I'm angry and just want to get the media people in question arrested at the very least.

On top of it, the terribly unhelpful attitude of the neighbors simply saddens my heart.


Source

[MotoNanu]

Sad state of affairs. I hope the culprits are caught soon and proper justice is done to the victims.

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by GJ01

Way back in 2003 - 04 I was required to travel for work to Badayun in UP and we had to drive from Delhi to Badayun. We had strict instructions that irrespective of the emergency - You didnt start from Delhi later than 4 PM. Bulandsehar area was notorious for cars getting robbed at night. I remember one of the office guys acting against this and forcing the taxi fellow to drive him to Badayun from Delhi railway station at 6 PM. He was stopped after Bulandsehar - a tree trunk laid across the road - robbed down to his undergarments. Luckily he was let go with only the robbing, it could have been much worse.

Things dont seem to have improved in the last 13 yrs. Its common knowledge there that night travel must not be done under any circumstances. If these were local people to NCR, they would have known of this. I feel sorry for the family who were already in trauma of having lost a family member recently having to go through the ordeal and the circus of the press will only make it more excruciating.

I read that 14 odd people have been rounded up. Hoping law takes a swift course and the guilty are sent to the gallows.

GJ01, this is a gross generalization, and I can say with some authority - utterly wrong. Bulandshahar is my home town and I live in Noida. I regularly drive on these roads at all times of the day. In fact had been doing it since 1999. I have never heard or known one single instance of robbery on the Delhi-Bulandshahar stretch.

The road where this happened is a newly-built bypass. It's about 6 kms longer than the normal route. So people take it during the day, but in nights when there is not much traffic they still take the older bypass. That particular stretch of road is always deserted in the nights. Victims suffered a lot and nobody must ever go through that, but I'd have to say that had they shown little common sense, all of it could have been avoided. 1. They shouldn't have taken that deserted road at 3 AM, and 2. they shouldn't have stopped on the road under any circumstances.

Why this incident happened is part of a larger malice. The current government in UP is the most corrupt ever. Almost all important police stations are run by Yadavs. Bulandshahar is a prized posting and people pay good bribes to be posted here. Since they pay huge money, their one and only focus is earning. Patrolling a deserted highway doesn't pay, manning a roundabout which sees lots of traffic does.

Robbers/rapists were all outsiders, members of bawariya gang. They laid a trap, in complicity with the cops, and one poor family had to suffer.

[GJ01]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

All in all I will never advise people to travel in UP at night though I am from UP and do regular trips to various parts of this state. It is always a risk when you are in UP.

Originally Posted by TheDesertRat

I do hail from Kanpur itself and have been moving between Delhi and Kanpur for the past 10 years.

Have I ever travelled at night? No.

Originally Posted by adi_gt

I am from Agra and living now in Bangalore, I can second that. My father who is in Agra, never encourages us to travel overnight from Delhi-Agra under any condition.

Originally Posted by ntomer

GJ01, this is a gross generalization, and I can say with some authority - utterly wrong. Bulandshahar is my home town and I live in Noida. I regularly drive on these roads at all times of the day. In fact had been doing it since 1999. I have never heard or known one single instance of robbery on the Delhi-Bulandshahar stretch.

@ntomer: You have your opinions and rightly so. What I have said is from practical experience when I used to travel Delhi - Dedayun 13 yrs ago and real life examples of other locals from UP seem to corroborate that.
You are a local of Bulandsahar and have sentiments attached to your hometown, but that doesnt take away the fact of the incidents that I know of.

Earlier @phamilyman too objected to my comment and if you had read, I have clarified that I this is not referring to all roads in UP, but fact remains that the Bulandsahar area was notorious back then, it still seems to be today.

I rest my case.

[naturaldisaster]

As our population has increased, the value allotted to each life has dropped to almost zero now. When there are so many people in a country, many issues created are societal but the penalties paid are at an individual level. Soon we will reach a level when a dead beggar on the street will not even be picked up by the local ambulances.

I cant imagine how terrible the family feels now. First of all the the pain they have endured and then the added malice of known members of their society. Once again the individuals pay. If this had happened with their neighbours instead of this family, the latter would have reacted the same as they the former are doing so now.

Developed countries are also corrupt and exploit resources, etc. But they all have one thing in common, there is a certain value of each human life there.

[TD_GHY]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

The problem in India is not just the incident but the media which is lunatic and adds severe insult to injury. I'm angry and just want to get the media people in question arrested at the very least.
Attachment 1537539
On top of it, the terribly unhelpful attitude of the neighbors simply saddens my heart.
Attachment 1537538

Taking the risk of going off topic and getting this post deleted. I seriously don't understand this Indian mentality of shutting out people for no mistake of theirs. Such a contradiction this society of ours is. We don't give one hoot about extra-marital affairs, wife beating, dowry deaths (we have one thread in TBHP to suggest cars to give to the groom even, in the guise of gifting) but the moment some scroundel does such inhuman act on some woman, the entire society detests itself from the woman instead of the man. What wrong did the women commit except having a body monsters crave for?

I've talked to a rape victim once. Took her quite a few yeas to regain her self confidence to get back to life, thanks to the society mocking and making her feel guilty every time. Thankfully, she took to education to get rid of all this in a far away place, and also found a boy partner who accepted her despite knowing the truth. Not generalizing, but I find today's generation a bit open minded and understanding about this than the previous generation, which is a good thing.

I pray the same for this little girl. May the forces be with her, if not this screwed up society.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by TD_GHY

Taking the risk of going off topic and getting this post deleted. I seriously don't understand this Indian mentality of shutting out people for no mistake of theirs. Such a contradiction this society of ours is. We don't give one hoot about extra-marital affairs, wife beating, dowry deaths (we have one thread in TBHP to suggest cars to give to the groom even, in the guise of gifting) but the moment some scroundel does such inhuman act on some woman, the entire society detests itself from the woman instead of the man. What wrong did the women commit except having a body monsters crave for?

Well said. It's not necessarily an Indian phenomenon, Western women face the problem of "victim shaming" as well, though it is definitely more pronounced in societies that traditionally consider women subservient. It was a little disconcerting that the first reaction even on this thread was to berate the driver for stopping on the highway at night. While everybody needs to practice caution, that would be my instinctive reaction as well, I confess.

I've talked to a rape victim once. Took her quite a few yeas to regain her self confidence to get back to life, thanks to the society mocking and making her feel guilty every time. Thankfully, she took to education to get rid of all this in a far away place, and also found a boy partner who accepted her despite knowing the truth. Not generalizing, but I find today's generation a bit open minded and understanding about this than the previous generation, which is a good thing.

You're talking about a very small segment of society that is accepting and liberal in the true sense. We have a long way to go as a society before a rape victim (not "survivor", however PC that may be) is viewed with compassion and accorded dignity and respect.

Just look at the report that phamilyman posted. Powerful piece of writing that exposes the crude mentality that prevails not just in the mainstream media but in society today. Politicians are expected to behave even worse, as this Firstpost piece shows.

In any society, there will be crime and violent crime, especially against women and weaker sections of society. That is inevitable. What defines us a society is how we react to it. Typically this is what happens: politicians scream for more stringest punishment for rapists ("Hang them!!!") and women's groups and other do-gooders take to the streets, demanding more "safety" for women, completely and ironically missing the point. What is called for is more freedom (and protection of THAT freedom) and not protection for the woman as if she were a possession of the male patriarch. In response, institutions clamp down even more on freedom: colleges impose ridiculous dress codes, working women's hostels impose curfews, hell even the government steps in and bans women from working late or at night. Has anyone bothered analysing whether this knee-jerk nonsense actually reduces crime?

What about accountability of the legal system? How many rape cases are solved? How many are even reported? What are the conviction rates like? How is the rapist rehabilitated when his sentence ends to address the underlying issues that caused him to commit such a henous crime in teh first place?

I've said it before: we need a kinder, gentler society not necessarily a richer, flashier one. We can start with the victims of sexual abuse and assault.

[Mortis]

Is it just me or is the term 'survivor' being allotted to all rape victims after the Delhi incident a bit wrong ?