The Ugly Side of Gurgaon

Today, somebody sauntered off with my handbag from the Huda City Centre Metro Station in Gurgaon. Emerging from the security booth I discovered, much to my horror, that it was missing from the X-ray conveyor belt. My first reaction was of incredulity. Such things never happen to you: it happens to strangers! You read about it in the papers, cluck and shake your head in sympathy and proceed to finish your cup of tea. You are bewildered as to how a person can simply walk off with a huge handbag right under the nose of numerous security personnel and closed-circuit cameras. For Chrissake, there’s a man looking intently at the X-ray screen and two men guarding the gate! Surely, you are meant to feel safe!

By the time I ran up the stairs with one of the security guards, it was too late. It could have been anybody and that anybody could have headed anywhere. A woman alone, apparently well-off, with a large handbag is an easy target. While I waited inside the Metro office, convinced that they will have the footage, so that we can look at the recordings and nab the culprit – I realized I was being naive. It’s never that simple. Madam, the tape is with Chattarpur station and you’ll have to wait till the evening. Why don’t you go to the Metro Police station instead and lodge an FIR in triplicate?

It’s never that simple, silly!

I was worried sick. I had just lost a whole lot of cash, a bunch of credit cards, my ATM card, my mobile. And what’s worse, I had just lost my house keys! My daughter was all alone in the apartment! What if that cad decides to check out my house? To be frank, the metro staff in that shift was quite courteous and even offered me money to get back home.

On my way back towards my apartment, I was battling a mother’s worst fears. Thankfully my daughter was safe but worried sick for her Mom.

It’s painful, having to call up your bank, get all the cards blocked, get your SIM card blocked. My beautiful new Android, I didn’t even have the time to mourn for its loss.

But the worst was yet to come. I had yet to file an FIR.
 

This was my first visit to a police station. Who wants to go there? Don’t we all avoid it like the bubonic plague?

As I was sitting, trying to explaining that I had just lost a whole lot of things, the policeman decided to interrogate me instead. As if I had come to the police station at 2.30 in the afternoon to spin a yarn and play hide and seek with them. This is Gurgaon, handbags don’t get lost, are you sure your memory has not gone for a toss! My character, my intentions were being questioned by that leery bastard sitting right across. Ogling at my cleavage, my arms – as if I was some freak show who had just stepped in for an item number.

The constable decided to play Sherlock and insisted that he accompany us (my husband and I) to the Metro station, to get to the bottom of things! By the time we reached, the shift had changed and there was a new batch of security at the station. Their behaviour was even worse than the police constable’s! They assumed I had come to accuse them of theft, which was far from my intention. When I refused to put my sling bag on the security belt, they shouted at me. I shouted back, loud and clear – that they were public servants meant to protect us and not question our integrity. A woman had just lost her purse. Instead of being understanding and extend a helping a hand, you scream that an FIR should be lodged against her husband because he rushed past security check, to come to his wife’s rescue? Why such apathy? I get blatantly robbed and how do you react: turn around and suggest that I have absolutely no proof that someone stole my bag? Make me read the sign that they are not responsible for my loss. Suggest that I am concocting a cock and bull story!

And what’s worse, the police chap was nodding in agreement.
 

I saw the worst of humanity and they saw the worst of me – a woman sputtering with rage, banging the table and screaming they had no right to treat her like this!

Had I walked in with my bunch of security guards, chewing pan and boasting that I have half a dozen murder cases registered against me, everybody would have stood to attention and saluted me. Ironically an honest, law-abiding citizen is a freak in this country - taken for granted and treated like shit.

I was not allowed to write the word “stolen” in my FIR; I had to write “missing” instead. I was constantly told that some poor soul in a fit of forgetfulness must have walked off with my purse! That I am hallucinating and unnecessarily creating a ruckus!

At that moment, I knew how it feels to be a woman who has just been violated. How it feels to go to the police for help and be greeted with ridicule instead. Her character questioned, while the constable absent-mindedly scrapes his lunch off his teeth. Today, I felt helpless.

If an honest law-abiding, tax-paying, educated citizen has to face this, what hope is there for the poor?

Is it a crime to be a victim? Is it a crime to expect justice? I know you will never find my handbag and its missing contents but the least you can do is treat me with dignity. Gurgaon Police – Suraksha, seva, sahyog my foot! Learn some manners instead.

Today I lost my faith in the system and I know it’s not getting any better. I was supposed to meet my childhood friend after two decades, look what I got instead! My husband is changing the locks, as I furiously punch keys to express my rage.