Hi Folks..High time i posted this. Want to share a horrible incident faced by my dear friend who wants to stay anonymous... coz he doesnt wish to his family to know about this ordeal and is sincerely worried that these low life Bangaloreans will come seeking some more hatred.this particular even occurred about a 3 weeks back .from what i know and heard from some other friends,i incurr- 1) it is NOT an isolated event 2)it is surely not to be looked as just another case of Road Rage 3)this is definately the case of growing frustrations among misguided Bangalorean local youths. 4)Sharing this so that we can be more alert 5) raise our voices, collectively, against this, as early as possible to avoid it to grow in portions which are hard to control and leave an indelible mark on the history of such a beautiful city... extract from my friends letter.. I was assaulted by 3 people on Marathahalli bridge in front of hundreds of people in broad daylight - Not one person intervened (except for a traffic police officer and an off-duty HAL police officer). I was returning from Manipal Hospital after consulting a doctor for severe back pain. While I can drive my car without pain, getting in and out takes a lot of effort and usually involves pain. Anyway, a few hundred metres before Marathahalli bridge, a cab with 4 occupants (as I found out later), cut me off in heavy traffic. Now this happens a lot in Bangalore, but the manner in which he did this and the speed at which I was going forced me to slam on my brakes causing my back a lot of pain. I was annoyed and I let him know how I felt through my open window in Hindi (I dont speak Kannada). He retorted and since I didnt understand him, I waved him off and continued driving. In slow traffic, I drove ahead of him in the second lane and he tried to cut in front of me again, but this time he had to stop in order to avoid hitting a bus who had stopped in front of him. I gestured to him asking him what the hell he was trying to do and this seems to have set him off. He followed me till Marathahalli bridge where the traffic had stopped. After this car stopped, 3 people got out of the car. One guy grabbed me through the drivers side window and started pulling me out. The other guy got in from the passenger side (I was alone) and started punching me while yelling at me. Pretty soon both guys were punching me. I couldnt retaliate because of my bad back. A traffic police officer saw this altercation and intervened. He momentarily separated us and asked us to move off the centre of the bridge to the side of the road where buses stop. I pulled over expecting the officer to take these guys to task. To my surprise, the guys came after me again in front of this traffic cop, who didnt do anything (other than asking them to stop). By this time another colleague had also joined and these guys were still swinging at me. Finally, another person (who I later found was an off-duty police officer attached to the HAL police station) came forward and aggressively dispersed the crowd and asked me what was going on. I told him what happened and he asked me to go to HAL police station and file a report. He then let all of us go. I was in a state of shock and only managed to ask the traffic police officer why he didnt put a stop to the assault and why he didnt hold them? After all, they were committing a crime in front of them. His response was in Kannada and I decided to leave. I have filed a complaint and an FIR has been registered. The taxi has been identified and impounded and 4 people (including a woman in the backseat who didnt participate in the melee) were arrested and let go on bail. The police is in the process of filing a chargesheet. I am following up with them to ensure that things are moving along. I met a lady in the HAL police station who was standing in line to file a complaint for the exact same incident at the exact same place (Marathahalli bridge). Her husband was beaten up after a traffic altercation and the guy who beat him up also stole his laptop and bag. I have since come to know of a half-a-dozen such incidents in Bangalore - every single one involves a non-Kannada speaking person at the receiving end. In the case of this lady, the police officer is apparently mediating a truce so that the lady and her husband can get their stuff back. The things that bother me (aside from the experience of being a punching bag for amateur boxers): 1. No member of public came forward to help or stop this. I am sure most of you have watched the previous episode of Satyameva Jayate (about road accidents). This just happened to me 2. Cops stopped the fight (if you can call it that - one party wasnt swinging). However, I am sure our laws say that they can and should arrest anyone they see committing a crime. They didnt do that. Aside from this, my dealings with the police have been smooth - they do need to be trained better. One of the investigating officers told me that cops cant be witnesses. I had to explain why that is not the case. I have the conviction to see this through and ensure that these guys end up behind bars. I am even hiring a lawyer although one is not necessary... I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 09:43:09 +0000
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