The lynching of two innocent Assam youths by a mob on suspicion of being child traffickers in Karbi Anglong shows us the dark and ugly side of mob justice. Committed by a group of people in the name of justice, victims are often targeted blindly based on mere speculation and not even given a chance to defend themselves. In fact mob justice is anything but that. It is unfortunate that in the last few years there has been increasing cases of frenzied killings by mobs.

Earlier, this year when a minor was raped and murdered in Tezu, a frenzied mob stormed into the police station and snatched the two accused from under the noses of jail authorities and lynched the duo in the marketplace. When a horrific crime takes place, emotions are understandably riding high but despite this, no civilized society can afford to allow mob rule to replace the rule of law.

 It is for the administration to brainstorm and find out how huge crowds are allowed to gather outside  jail premises without the administration making any serious attempts to disperse it or for that matter why preventive measures are not taken in advance given the sensitive nature of such incidents. Even in the recent Karbi Anglong incident, what took the police so long to arrive at the scene?

There are uncomfortable questions which administrations have to answer for the lapses in tackling such situations and cases. There is also an overriding feeling to blame mob justice acts as reflection of people’s frustration and anger over the sluggish criminal system.

That said, mob justice can never be justified, no matter the circumstance.

Criminal acts carried out by a crowd will not help raise better public awareness against crimes, if anything, such vigilantism can actually weaken the cause of social action. Such incident not only reflects poorly on the police and the administration but threatens peace and social stability. Curbing mob justice gains impetus since women are often the easy target. Several women have lost their lives in the neighbouring state of Assam and across India on suspicion as baseless as being ‘witches’ or for practising ‘witch-craft’.

Under the cover of a faceless crowd, many heinous crimes are committed and the perpetrators are never brought to task which in a way emboldens and validates their actions. Mob vigilantism must be tackled with a severe hand to send across a message that people who take the law in their hands are no less than criminals.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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