A businessman was shot and then stabbed during a robbery attempt. He fought back and people watched and filmed the crime as it was happening. The assailants managed to escape amidst the crowded traffic of the town as phone cameras followed them part of the way. Yet, nobody came to the businessman’s assistance, except after the perpetrators of the crime had fled from the scene when they picked up the man and rushed him to a hospital. He died in the ambulance on the way to the government hospital.
What is more appalling in this incident? Is it the crime or that nobody went to the rescue of the man who was being stabbed? The timing of all what happened is a telling comment on the manner in which people reacted. The incident is reproted to have happened between 12 and 12.15 pm and the police received information at 12.48. The attack and murder happened less than a kilometre from the police station, people watched and filmed it, did nobody think of calling up the police immediately after the crime?
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There is outrage on social media at what happened. The people are asking whether there is no fear of the law. The people are asking why nobody went to the aid of the businessman. The people are asking what happened to peaceful Goa, the Goa where you could once sleep in your home with the windows open at night and no iron grills to bar intruders. Goa is no longer the oasis of peace that it once was. Crime has increased and this murder is just one of the many that will be added to the statistics that will go up on the walls of the police stations. Today, this is fresh news that is being talked across the State, in a few days the crime will be a stale topic to discuss, and like everything else it will be forgotten.
But, it should not be allowed to be forgotten, for this murder is yet another indication that lawlessness in Goa has increased considerably and that it has to be curtailed. The law enforcement agencies have to act strictly so that their actions turn into a deterrent to crime. For that to happen, we need action. How did the three persons who attacked the businessman manage to escape in the crowded town?
The Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister, has asked the police to act quickly and arrest the persons who committed the murder. What about also asking the police to ensure that criminal activity is reduced. The murder in Margao is one among a number of crimes that have shocked the State in recent months. In June there was the shooting at St Cruz that led to the death of a gang member, it was followed by the scuffle after a party at Anjuna, then a rave party busted at Vagator, besides other smaller crimes. Against this background the people are right in asking whether there is no fear of the law in Goa. And we have to ask this too.
This did not occur in an interior village, nor in a less frequented part of Margao. This happened in one of the most bustling areas of the town and this is borne by the traffic on the streets and the people who can be seen in the videos that have been recorded of the incident. It does indicate that there is no fear of the law. The only way in which Goa can be safe again is if the law enforcement agencies put the fear of the law in the anti-social elements.
