Harassed for being good Samaritans

Over the last week we have witnessed two instances betraying major discrepancies in police's handling of cases. In the first example, the police failed to arrest an under-aged driver who had rammed the SUV he was driving, into two rickshaws grievously injuring four people, even though there was no ambiguity regarding his culpability. In the second example, the police arrested four members of a registered NGO, on charges of child trafficking. Despite statements to the contrary from the children who had been allegedly 'kidnapped', the police did not bother to crosscheck the information given to them. If they had they would have found that these four individuals were actually selflessly helping these street children, feeding them, providing them with security and basic education and giving them hope for a better life.

The police probe has found no proof to justify the allegations of human trafficking and has recommended that the four be cleared of all charges. The four individuals, who ran the shelter and school for homeless children, with their own funds, were granted bail on Monday but not before spending more than a month in jail, for a crime they did not commit.

The worrisome aspect of all this is that we don't know how many people, under similar circumstances, are languishing in jail. We urge the Home Minister to make an immediate inquiry to investigate into instances of people who may be suffering the same fate as these unfortunate four. It is not uncommon to see criminals get away with murder in our country, which is bad in itself. But worse is when the innocent, even those who serve the society, are victimised by the system.