On January 1^st, 2008, all of Mumbai woke up to gory images of two women being molested and hounded by a mob of about 60 people outside Mumbai’s most posh hotel, the J.W. Marriot in Juhu. The mob tore up the woman’s clothes and groped her for as the girl’s male companions tried helplessly to protect them. The men were completely overpowered by the strong mob. A Hindustan Times lensman was present and captured the gory images on his Camera. A big posse of police personal posted close to the venue was later alerted by the Lensman and drove away the miscreants but not before they had molested the girls for about 15minutes.

The incident occurred at about 1.45 am on December 31^st night when the two girls were returning from the Hotel and were heading towards Juhu Beach, located in the suburbs of Mumbai. A similar incident had shamed Mumbai exactly an year ago,a girl was molested by New Year’s eve revelers at the Gateway of India. That incident too was captured on film by another popular tabloid in Mumbai. Mumbai used to be regarded as the safest city for Women in India. But this reputation seems to be diminishing as crimes against Women are reported daily. The New Year’s molestation incident was an eye opener for the “Safest City” in India. About 14 men who were part of the mob were imprisoned by the Police but later let off as they were not the actual molesters. The women who were on the receiving end were NRI’s and came forward to help the police to nab the miscreants.

But what was shocking was that the , Police Commissioner D N Jadhav downplaying the incident accused the Media of making a “Mountain of a Molehill” He went on to add, “Such things can happen anywhere anytime. Here also where I am. It is just an offence. Why are you blowing it out of proportion?”