Noida Savagery

Apropos of the Noida Savagery one shudders to think about the unpardonable crime the Moninder-Surendra duo have committed in enticing, raping, brutally killing and mercilessly mincing more than 30 innocent children. The duo's heinous crime is not only against the hapless children and the clueless parents but also against the entire humanity.We have heard of such barbarity only in some poorest of poor African countries. That too, they sometimes turn man-eaters not for carnival pleasure but as a last measure to satisfy the hunger.
What, however, intrigues us in the gruesome criminality in Noida instance spanning over a long period is the role of the Police authorities. As usual, the callousness and the criminal apathy of the Police officials of the concerned Police Station(s) are quite obvious. Their non-feasance speaks tons about the way in which the crime is handled, investigated and acted upon by the Police in India.
The parents are reported to have knocked the doors of the stone-walled police stations seeking help upon the missing of their children, but driven away by the police officials in a typical manner in which the crimes against the poor and the marginalized sections of the society are treated by the police in India. It is for any one's guess as to the ordeal by fire the clueless, indigent parents have under gone only because they did not have some higher connections so that the police would have acted. Compare this with the promptness with which the kidnapped son of a prominent CEO of an IT company was traced and restored to the rich and influential parents. It is no one's case that police should not have acted in that case, but to highlight the speed with which the police can act if they wish to do so. This also points to the partisan treatment and the bias existing in the Indian administrative machinery for the rich and the poor.
In Noida instance, the negligence of the police in not taking proper cognizance of the report made by the parents of the missing children is very, very serious. Had they taken cognizance of the multiple Missing Reports an imaginative and intuitive police official could have detected the ongoing crimes of the duo for many months could have been unearthed. This would have prevented the avoidable loss of lives of many more children. Unfortunately, the conduct of the Police in the whole affair leaves much to be desired.Therefore, the criminal apathy and dereliction of the duty on the part of the police officials must be viewed very seriously and it should not go unpunished.
The Noida episode yet again underscores the need to urgently embark upon the Police Reforms, which is a Pandora's Box few politicians would like to open for a variety of reasons. The Padmanabhaiah Commission, which looked into the Police Reforms, had recommended among other things to bifurcate the Police Force into two : one exclusively for law and order and the other one exclusively for investigation. He also recommended to have an Investigation kit in every Police Station. It was recommended that The Station Officer should fill in this kit with every FIR preparation. Sadly, the recommendations could not be implemented . The Supreme Court directive to reform the Police is also met with political opposition from the Chief Ministers due to political reasons.
The public opprobrium snowballed after the Noida episode must wake up the administrators towards the urgency to reform the Police Forces before the Frankenstein eats up the Indian Society which is fast developing at a rapid speed.