Police must step up its trust quotient: Bedi

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If somebody had come forward to help when two Class 12 girls of Mount Carmel School were being chased and attacked with a knife by a man outside their school premises last week, it just might have made all the difference.
Why don’t people object or raise their voices when something wrong is happening right in front of them? It is no surprise then that 96 per cent women in the city don’t feel safe and 88 per cent women feel that when a woman is harassed in a public place she rarely or never gets any help from the public. The figures are the findings of a survey conducted by the Centre for Equity and Inclusion (CEQUIN), a non-profit organisation.
Phrases such as “Don’t get involved, be safe, don’t interfere” have been ingrained in our minds from a very young age. But has this conditioned us to live in fear? Fifteen-year-old Vasundhara Singh Bhati opines, “Why most people don’t interfere is because they are afraid of it backfiring. Two-three years ago, most schools were keen to provide self-defence classes for its students. But it petered out.”
Agrees 18-year-old Sanya Batra, “Everything today is interrelated. Crime is big now, even very young people are into it. We have been taught to handle certain difficult situations, but not all.”
According to Dr Kiran Bedi, police officer turned social activist, “These incidents are directly linked to trust quotient of police. How does the public perceive police? These nuicances are preventable, Delhi is better equipped with PCR vans, no other city matches its resources. These vehicles have to patrol more, be more visible and these ruffians will not be able to get away. I believe that Delhi Police has to take steps to ensure that people develop trust and faith in the force. The police has to send a message that they are there and ensure that the culprits don’t get away and judiciary delivers faster judgements. Only then will you see crime rates falling and people taking an initiative to prevent crime.”
Explaining why bystanders watch but don’t extend help, clinical psychologist Dr Rajat Mitra says, “It’s not as if they love to watch, but many have not been trained to respond to such a situation. Most bystanders freeze not knowing what to do.”
Snigdha Kutariyar (name changed) came to Delhi seven years ago from Gaya. She shares, “Once on my way to college I slapped a guy in the bus who was trying to act smart. Coming from a small town, I thought people around would help but none came forward. Since then, I rarely scream or hit anyone in protest.”
Class 12 student Monica Negi (name changed) recalls a traumatic experience. “I had gone to my nani’s place in Kalkaji. Around 8 pm I stepped out to go to a nearby CD shop. I was barely 10 steps away from the house when a man came running towards me wanting to kiss me and was carrying a knife in his hand. I shoved him and ran, not realising my top had got torn. There were people on the street but nobody did a thing to stop or catch the guy.”