Police said they conducted surprise raids after hearing that young couples stay back late at the public garden near Vasant Vihar Society in Mulund (West) despite being warned not to. In doing so, they claimed, the couples were also risking their life because the area is vulnerable to leopard attacks. However, officials failed to explain why, if leopard attacks were their prime concern, senior citizens in the park were not asked to leave. Also, the police action was suo motu; no one had complained of indecent behaviour.
The 30 youngsters, including a few college students, were charged under Section 110 of the Bombay Police Act (indecent behaviour in a public place).
Mumbaikars are frequently fined for obscenity, behaving indecently in public, disorderly conduct and indecent language under this outdated section, which doesn't clearly define the infractions, leaving the law's interpretation open to the police. It has been the police's ally in many recent cases as they went about shutting down night clubs and dragging patrons to police stations over violation of curfew hours.
"We were not doing any moral policing. The couples were charged after they continued their act and did not take the warnings seriously," said additional commissioner of police (East region) Quaiser Khalid. "The couples were warned and let off in the past by the patrolling personnel, but they didn't stop their indecent act in a public place which forced us to charge them."
Senior inspector Jivajirao Jadhav said: "The action was taken as a precautionary measure because we don't want an incident similar to the Delhi rape case in Mumbai. We called their parents and counselled the kids in front of them. The girls' parents were given the address of the boys their daughters are seeing."
Jadhav added that some of the couples were tracked down half a kilometre inside SGNP. "We had asked those who sit in the garden till late to leave early so that they do not fall prey to wild animals. But few take it in the right spirit," Jadhav added. Khalid said their intention was never to impinge on the freedom today's youth enjoy. "They can visit the public garden or any other public places at any time, it is their right. At the same time, they should be more responsible before indulging in indecent acts in front of small kids, families and elderly people," he said.
Times View: Get your priorities right
There are several things that don't add up here. Cops are saying they were trying to protect others from "public indecency". The question that follows is whether there was any complaint lodged with the cops; officials don't have too much to say about this. Second, who decides what is "indecent"? What was happening between the couples is their word versus the cops' and the jury is still out on standards of "decency" and "indecency". These are issues that have confounded generations and will go on being debated till the end of the world. Should cops get into all this? Our police force seems to have got its priorities all mixed up. Citizens have the power to just turn away from what they feel is "indecent" and "protect" their sense of "decency" if it is "offended". But what about crimes like break-ins, rapes or incidents of snatching? For the average Mumbaikar, crime on the street is a much more serious issue than youngsters hanging out together in public. Cops should get their priorities right.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Mumbai cops play moral police again, detain couples for 'indecent' acts in public garden
Dengan url
http://sehatnyasusu.blogspot.com/2013/01/mumbai-cops-play-moral-police-again.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Mumbai cops play moral police again, detain couples for 'indecent' acts in public garden
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Mumbai cops play moral police again, detain couples for 'indecent' acts in public garden
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar