- By Surarika Das
- Mon, 11 May 2026 04:10 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A video from the lanes of Chandigarh recently gained widespread attention, showing a car hit a woman's scooter before the driver got off and slapped her. The bystanders then thrashed the man. In a separate incident, a political leader was captured touching a fellow female MLA inappropriately. Social media users quickly lashed out, demanding immediate action.
In all these cases, the common link is the camera. Although these incidents occurred under distinct circumstances, they do share a commonality. The public cannot question the victim's statement after witnessing the footage. These videos act as a powerful agency to secure informed and steady action from the authorities.
The cases where videos get circulated are the ones where the accused get caught sooner. The police have to take action after some sensitive incident gets viral. Also, the camera does act as an eye-opener in these cases. The urgency of action is actually embedded in the lens.
The CCTV and the cameras are somehow speaking for the women and showing the mirror to the society, which always questioned her sanctity. The continuous visuals also point out that women truly are not safe anywhere, be it in the streets, schools, colleges, office space, or in their own homes.
A video from Hyderabad showed a woman freeze after she saw a man masturbating during a morning walk at around 6 am. The woman revealed how she chose to do a morning walk, fearing that at night it wouldn't be secure. The Hyderabad police soon launched a search operation for the man.
The 2023 case of a man allegedly peeing on a woman on an Air India flight and the previous incident of actor Zaira Wasim reporting inappropriate touching on a Mumbai-Delhi flight show how even strictly regulated environments depend on victims forcing attention before the system responds.
Has Inaction Become Normalised?
What is more concerning is that bystanders never help. In 2025, a court noted that bystanders intervening during harassment on a public bus was "rare." The remark revealed how normalised inaction has become. Perhaps the fear of involvement, distrust in the legal processes, and social conditioning all play a role. But the consequence is clear: perpetrators act in environments where a pushback looks unlikely.
There's another part that needs to be questioned. While people fail to intervene during the harassments, there have been instances where a woman has been judged on what she was wearing or a couple looked down on just for staying together at a public place.
Moral policing is frequent and vocal, whereas reacting to harassment is rare. The crux of these episodes is that the majority of people respond to escalation. Complaints gain attention only when the videos circulate. Action follows outrage. Accountability comes after visibility.