Why we look away: The level of indifference to a minor’s visible distress in Ujjain says something disturbing about us

Horrific as the news of a 12-year-old rape survivor’s 8-km walk in search of help was, it was equally troubling that no one in Ujjain, MP, came forward to assist her. Turned down by everyone, she walked till she fell unconscious. Help came after that. This response to a child visibly in distress holds up a mirror to Indian society. Quick to be animated by the most abstract of subjects, not for the first time have people displayed indifference to a minor or an adult desperately seeking help. What makes the Ujjain incident worse than many others is that no one could use the fear of perpetrators as an excuse.

It’s this fear that’s often used to rationalise the disinclination to help victims, who are almost always women. For example, in Chennai this month, a stalker stabbed and injured a 16-year-old girl while people watched. If fear was an excuse here, is there anything to rationalise the indifference to a minor’s visible distress in Ujjain? India, however, is not unique in the way people react to violent crimes.

One such incident in the US in the 1960s, where the victim was a woman, catalysed sociological research into why people fail to respond. The phenomenon, termed as ‘bystander effect’, has led to multiple explanations.

The most persuasive reasons, which are interrelated, are social influence and diffusion of responsibility. Social influence kicks in when bystanders look to others for guidance. However, as the number of bystanders increases the sense of personal responsibility diffuses, and therefore diminishes. The combined effect leads to tragedies that could well have been averted. The bystander effect cuts across all classes in society. No one is immune to it. However, even accounting for the bystander effect, it’s hard to ignore the level of indifference that Indians exhibit to distress around them.

Take the example of road accidents where lives can be saved if victims receive medical treatment in “the golden hour”. There was a time when the fear of police procedures and attendant harassment discouraged people from extending help. But that’s a thing of the past. Now Good Samaritan laws protect people who volunteer to help a victim. Surely, this should galvanise the middle class to step in more often. Not only do they have social cache, they can also call upon social networks to shield them from harassment. Unfortunately, Good Samaritans are in short supply. India sure could do with a lot more empathy.

END OF ARTICLE