Don’t just walk away..

Posted on by Parul Thakur

Today during lunch the cafe TV was airing a piece of news which spoke of Shikha Joshi, a model to who allegedly committed suicide (investigation is on and post mortem reports are awaited) in her own apartment and her friend found her first inside the bathroom with a slashed neck. The friend chose to make a video of Shikha and record her last words instead of rushing her to hospital. Why did she do that?

When I came across this post on Facebook and yet again a case of hit and run, I wondered why people ignore what they just saw and walk away. Seeing someone bleeding profusely, hurt and unconscious, what’s that people feel to move on with their lives as if they saw nothing.To all those who saw her and to the driver who had the empathy to move her to the side of the road, what stopped him to take her to the hospital. It is possible that with immediate medical care, she might have survived.

When Jyoti Singh and Awindra Pandey were thrown out of that bus on the night of December 16th, 2012 – people saw them lying in a pool of blood and bare bodied. But why did they walk away? I am sure it must have been a horrible sight and the one that would have given people many sleepless night, but they chose to wait for the police patrol van. Why? 

It’s not important to know who these people were. It is also not important to know what happened to them or who did what. What’s of utmost importance is if faced a situation where there is a matter of life and death, would you not do your bit as a human being or as a responsible citizen? What if you were hit and lying on the road waiting to be taken to hospital. Won’t it hurt if your loved one needed that crucial trip to hospital and then breathed her/his last?

Where has all the kindness gone? Where have all those good Samaritans gone? If we keep walking away like this, will we be ever able to sleep soundly?

For every step that you take away from someone who needs your help, you walk a step away from humanity. NO, police will not catch hold of you cos you did not hit and run away, you did not rape and tried to kill the woman, or you did not slash the throat. When you did not commit the crime, how is running justified? You came to help. Yes, your statement will be recorded but that’s okay. You are doing your bit to get the victim justice so just do that. Before you blame others for being insensitive, introspect and see if you are being concerned or responsible. Remember life comes to a full circle one day. Empathy, care, love and concern will go a long way but walking away won’t.

So don’t just walk away..

33 thoughts on “Don’t just walk away..”

  1. Making a video and recording statement instead of rushing her to the hospital is simply ridiculous. Have heard of so many people who have died on the road because people chose to stand and gape rather than help. A close friend of ours lost their 20 year old son in an accident and nobody helped him. Kshitij, my husband has helped people thrice and once even an injured horse. You may like to read about it here… http://shilpaagarg.com/2013/07/ubc-day-27-proud-of-you-kg.html

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  2. True that… Apathy has set in the minds of people. But if we need to change, we must be the change and then pray that others follow and develop a thick skin to deal with detractors for there will be many. That’s all we can do.

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  4. Yes..agreed…Donot run away..please.
    I have experience of helping many on road accidents.
    I liked the narration of this important issue.
    I congratulate for this thought provoking article.
    Why?
    Why do you run away?
    Tomorrow you will face an accident and…?

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  6. I guess walking away is the norm now a days. When someone stops and helps , that will be something to talk about. As far as compassion, kindness and all that – they are rare…so rare that it makes a blue moon look more real and regular. And I think that is because of the consequences they face because of their actions. I just hope when a person shows kindness and compassion, or just overcomes the urge of walking away, They are treated right.

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  7. Completely agree with you! The reason of running away is people do not want to take responsibility. They don’t understand someday they can be in a problem too.

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  9. I still am yet to come to terms with the fact that she recorded a video instead of getting help. And all this just so that her name is cleared. Seriously, what has the world come to?

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  10. This is unfortunately, apparently, a psychological issue… herd mentality is very useful when they are people we know, but the likelihood of helping a stranger decreases the more people are present. If a crime is happening and only one person can react to it, they are several times more likely to help than if a group of seven or more see the same incident. Humans are strange, fickle creatures, and being a good samaritan tends to go against our very nature of self-preservation.

    Those stories are very sad.

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  11. I guess some people are just scared, some don’t want the extra hassle in their life, and some are just too worked up about their own life that they cannot even notice anyone else in suffering.

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  13. Well in 3 words “where’s the love”- Black Eyed Peas!. (Pretty sure you know BEP)!.
    Came to this site by jumping through “tale of 2 tomatoes”!.

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  14. My previous message was about this post! “Where’s the love” by BEP. Just forget the political tone in the music, but focus on the humanity which very well correlates, what you have mentioned!
    Au Revoir!

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  15. I’d rather report something horrific that I’ve witnessed than spend my whole life crying in my sleep!

    It’s true that people nowadays have taken this line quite seriously – What is life, if we don’t have time to stand and stare.
    I think it’s time we show some form of moral responsibility and do our bit for each other!

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  16. Let me take another viewpoint here. Not that I don’t condemn mute spectators in such cases. But one big reason, people would be doing this is because they don’t like to get in the mess of courts and police stations. They feel that if they help such victims, everyone will start questioning them whether the police, doctors, courts whatever and start hounding them left, right and center. That’s quite the case generally in India. And so to avoid that, they don’t really bother.

    In the end, it’s all about worrying about oneself and not caring about the world. It’s sad but Finally, we need to ask the question to ourselves on why people actually do this. And those causes need to be addressed. Yes, there are those who actually don’t care.

    But there are also those who are scared of the system failing them all the time even if they went out of their way to help someone.

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    1. I totally agree with you and when people think that this will be a messy situation, they are not wrong. We need to have better systems that encourage people to come forward and not pound them with zillion questions and statements.

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