Suddenly, the streets of Goa do not appear to be safe. And, though we hear of a lot of accidents occurring, that is not what I am referring to. This is different, and is definitely not what Goa has been accustomed to seeing.
Earlier this month, there was a video circulated that showed two tourists dragging out a Goan man from his car and assaulting him. The two men were subsequently arrested.
Last week, such rage in Goa went further when a Delhi man allegedly deliberately drove his car over a Goan woman over a petty dispute and killed her. He was arrested for murder.
In another incident, the police are looking out for a man for sexually harassing women on the streets of Panjim. The man, as per reports, is a habitual offender.
While writing this, there came the news of tourists and a cab aggregator company driver being assaulted by taxi drivers.
Last week, such rage in Goa went further when a Delhi man allegedly deliberately drove his car over a Goan woman over a petty dispute and killed her. He was arrested for murder.
There could be other such incidents that did not make the news, but all this happening on the streets of Goa is shocking, outrageous actually, for shocking would be a rather mild word to use.
Goa has never been known for violence. It is known, and is portrayed for being just the opposite.
There are crimes, no society can claim to be free of crime, but what we have been reading about in the past days are road rage, petty pet-walking issues, sexual harassment, and of course, fights arising out of the ongoing taxi issue that somehow evades solution year after year.
Questions tumble through the mind as one learns of fights, attacks, murders in Goa. Why is this happening? Has Goa suddenly descended into a meaningless void where violence or crime is the only answer to any situation or provocation? It didn’t happen earlier, so why now?
Once, we read about such incidents in newspapers, now we get to watch these happening through news clips, reels, CCTV footage, and you no longer have to imagine the horror of what is happening out there.
Once, we read about such incidents in newspapers, now we get to watch these happening through news clips, reels, CCTV footage, and you no longer have to imagine the horror of what is happening out there.
Take for instance the attack on the motorist by the two tourists. They pulled him out of the car, and repeatedly hit him with their helmets, even though, as seen in the video, he didn’t retaliate. It was only when onlookers intervened and pulled them away that they stopped beating the man.
Or, take the CCTV footage of the car hitting the woman and killing her. What we might have imagined was one thing, watching the horror of it happening is quite another. How could an argument on a dog-walking issue turn into a murder?
And, the taxi issue of old that for years remains simmering. When will it end? Hopefully, it won’t conflagrate into a major fireball. It surely needs to be dealt with and a solution arrived at, for the current situation is hot helping Goa tourism one bit.
Ironically, whether it is tourists being attacked in Goa, or tourists attacking people in Goa, the State’s reputation as a peaceful place is taking a major hit. We are not the peaceful and accommodating Goa of the past, the reputation that we held dear and bragged about.
Something has changed and it is not for the better.
Accidents can be excused for what they are – coincidences or fate or whatever you may want to term them. But, attacks cannot be excused. They are crimes, maybe not planned, but they are carried out with one’s mental faculties on alert, and so have to be dealt with under the law in the strictest possible manner.
It appears to be a degeneration of a society that has lost all decency, and then you have to ask, when did that happen? How did it happen? There may be no easy or quick answers.
There is news of a sequel to the movie Go Goa Gone, perhaps there is a theme that can be explored in it, for truly the Goa we knew is gone.