mid-day editorial: Stop infringing on women's personal space

Recently, a wedding celebration turned sour after an all-out brawl broke out between the guests, after some boys blatantly disrespected the personal space of a few girls dancing at the celebrations, and took pictures and videos. Later, many hours after the wedding, the boys were still seething because they had not been allowed to take pictures of the girls, so they called their friends and thrashed the girls' family members.

The assault was extremely violent, and the attackers used sticks and iron rods that put the victims in the hospital. It is shocking that the boys could not respect the wishes of the victims, who merely asked them not to take pictures of the women dancing. The women were enjoying the wedding, and not performing for cameras. It is not an insult to be told not to take pictures. On the other hand, it is an embarrassment for women when strangers take unsolicited pictures and videos of them. The pictures can also be posted on social media out of context and the women may feel violated.

One is also disturbed at the way this attack was planned. The verbal altercation at the wedding was one thing. The real fight occurred when the boys called for back-up, boarded the train that the victims were on and then ambushed them with sticks and rods.

This also shows the importance of having top-class CCTV cameras at railway stations and, in fact, at all public places. This is the first step towards nabbing the culprits. Equally worrying is the fact that the women cannot even hold the expectation that they can dance at a wedding without their personal space being violated. In the end, it is the boys' ego that caused a small issue to spiral into a dangerous fight. Unfortunately, this is one more case in a worrying pattern for the city.