The mob also chased her when she was running for her life stark naked on the streets till a kind citizen came to rescue her covering her with his own shirt. That time too, the police have failed to perform their duty.  Lot of articles regarding the issue have appeared in newspapers and it has been the subject of debate at the discussion tables of satellite news channels as a consequence to which lots of assurance has been given from the part of the government to provide safety and security to women in the state. But the July 9 incident was another replay of the entire 2007 episode. This time however, a reporter who was off duty was in front of the pub and had video-graphed the incident. He was accused of instigating the incident and was later arrested and sent to jail.

NCW also recommended the setting up of special police pickets along with women police in all 128 pubs of the city up to 1.30 pm for security and safety of women.

With the country’s lowest ratio between civilian and police and with a meager five per cent women police in that tiny police force, the Assam government will now have a tough time to fulfill the recommendations of National Commission on Women (NCW) which visited the state after the incident namely to make arrangements for police patrolling of police (along with women police) in the state to curb such incidents. Placing the state police force under more pressure, the NCW also recommended the setting up of special police pickets along with women police in all 128 pubs of the city up to 1.30 pm for security and safety of women.

The incident also unveiled severe lapses of security measures in the city especialy in front of pubs even though it is a well known fact that untoward incidents frequently take place in such vulnerable centers.  The chief minister Tarun Gogoi however announced immediately after the incident of serial bomb blasts on October 30, 2008 that rocked the city taking lives of hundreds, that CCTVs would be installed in all the sensitive areas to assure security to its citizens. He perhaps, ignored this aspect. Interestingly, while the television reporter, who covered the incident and the Editor-in Chief of the local news channel in which it was telecast, quit their jobs after widespread protest by various groups on the ground of sensationalizing the issue, the raw-footage of the video tape the reporter recorded in turn, helped the police to nab almost all the culprits in absence of CCTVs in front of the pub. In this regard, the NCW has recommended the installation of CCTVs in front of all 128 pubs in the city.

The incident of brutal assault on Dr. Rumi Nath, a woman member of the Assam legislative assembly and her second husband by an unruly mob in Karimganj town of southern Assam’s Barak valley, just 10 days before the molestation incident has also shamed the state. Video footage aired on local television channels showed moments when she was begging for her life before the wild mob that entered the hotel in which she was staying, dragged her and her husband out into the streets and brutally assaulted them till police came to the rescue of the victims.

Even, amidst the protests and the hue and cry over the July 9 incident, another incident took place in Sivasagar on July 12 in which an army personnel was accused of molesting a tribal girl. While the city-girl case received national and international coverage, local people in Sivasagar district had to organize a series of agitation programmes including a bare-chest protest by male members of 22 different organizations while demanding justice and compensation to the victim.

To what extent should a television cameraman or a media person go to while covering such incidents and what responsibility does the editor of a news channel have while deciding whether or not to telecast such content?

Meanwhile, the July 9 incident once again has brought the issue of media ethics into debate. It was RTI activist and Team Anna member Akhil Gogoi who first alleged that the television journalist instigated the whole incident. Later Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi also held the journalist responsible for not informing the police. While the telecast has helped nail most of the culprits including the prime accused Amarjyoti Kalita, who was arrested in Varanasi, questions are being raised about media ethics - should the reporter have filmed the entire episode that went on for 45 odd minutes, or helped the terrified victim? Why was the girl made to show her face to the camera, and why was her name, educational institution and home address being asked by the reporter which was also telecast later? To what extent should a television cameraman or a media person go to while covering such incidents and what responsibility does the editor of a news channel have while deciding whether or not to telecast such content? These are the burning questions at the moment.

Meanwhile, with a record 11,503 cases registered under crimes against women during 2011, and with an increase rate of 36.9 per cent which ranks Assam second in the country in cases of violent crimes against women as recorded by the National Crime Record Bureau, it is now clear that women are not safe on the streets of a fast growing city like Guwahati in general, and Assam in particular. This has prompted the state government to form a task force involving senior police officers to look into the matter. Another decision of the state government to engage institutions including Tata Institute of Social Research to study the social causes behind the high rate of crimes against women in the state is expected to provide a better understanding of the ground situation and the society’s response in addressing an important issue like women’s safety and security. However, much will depend on the Assam government in making the best and timely use of the findings and recommendations of such studies to actually address the issue.

Ratna Bharali Talukdar