‘40 people on board but no one intervened when schoolboys stabbed B Com student on Delhi bus’

delhi

Updated: Nov 25, 2017 10:19 IST

The family of 17-year-old Mohammad Anas, who was stabbed to death on a cluster bus in Delhi on Friday after a scuffle with five boys, said he could have been saved had even one of the passengers intervened.

Anas, a B Com Hons student at Al-Falah University in Faridabad, died on a moving bus in south Delhi after his throat was slit, allegedly by a group of five school students in uniform, when he confronted them on suspicion that they had stolen his mobile phone.

According to Jai Bhagwan, the bus conductor, there were at least 40 passengers on the bus at the time of the murder. Speaking to HT, he confirmed that no one — including himself — intervened.

“It just needed one passenger to stand up against the boys. That would have given everyone else courage to take on the goons. But there was not one man with courage in that bus,” said Anas’ uncle, Mujeeb Ahmed.

He said the passengers neither made any attempt to provide medical aid nor rushed Anas to hospital. “Why is it that Anas was taken to hospital only after the PCR van arrived? Why did the bus conductor not do anything to prevent the attack when it happened right next to his seat,” said Anas’ father, Bholu Khan.

The conductor said everything happened so quickly that he was unable to react. “The boys took advantage of the fact that the bus was moving slowly because of the traffic and ran out from the two doors,” said Bhagwan.

This is not the first time Delhiites have remained mute spectators to murders, attacks or even accident victims. Police say the fear of the unknown as well as an element of indifference induces this behaviour.

Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson, said this mindset is seen more in big cities like Delhi than in smaller towns or villages. “People are circumspect because they don’t know the people involved or the circumstances under which the conflict is happening. They are afraid to do their human duty because they do not want to get into any kind of trouble,” he said.

The officer urged people to intervene in such situations and assured good Samaritans will get legal protection. “They should be rest assured that the law is on their side,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the five students, who allegedly killed the boy, had bunked school that day and were taking casual joyrides in buses.

“They had assembled at a park in Madanpur Khadar before taking a bus to Ashram Chowk. They again took a bus ride towards Badarpur when they killed Anas,” said Praveer Ranjan, joint commissioner of police (southern range).

Investigators said no similar cases of the students targeting people have emerged so far. They said the boys seemed to be “unruly by nature”.

The description of the boys’ uniform, as well as electronic surveillance on the mobile phone they allegedly stole from Anas, helped the police apprehend them from different parts of south Delhi.