Pack off the brats whose railway antics killed man

The two young men whose antics on a Western Railway train cost an unsuspecting commuter his life deserve exemplary punishment.

As any regular commuter on Mumbai’s suburban network would know, this was a tragedy waiting to happen. Unfortunately, true to type, we — the people and the authorities —waited long enough for it to happen.

The sight of bored — and not particularly intelligent or sociable — young men entertaining themselves by trying to slap people waiting on a platform as a train moves out, or, as in this case, commuters in a train passing the other way on an adjacent track is not new to the city.

The phenomenon has been prevalent for two decades at least, if not longer, with most passengers preferring to ignore it. Those inside the train keep their counsel because they do not wish to tangle with a brash youngster who may be willing to dish out more than a tight slap.

Those on the platform can do little except curse, which, too, serves to amuse the brat with the outstretched palm. For the police, of course, there are always more serious matters to attend to.

Yet, it is this collective refusal to stand up to such bullying that has ultimately cost a young man his life.

We must be grateful to the commuters on that train for at least now mustering the courage to nab the offenders and hand them over to the police. While the law must now make an example of them, commuters must also remember that their safety is often in their own hands and in the hands of their fellow travellers.

We ignore the woes of others at our own peril.