An injured woman was found by a canal in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut in the evening on August 17, with her throat and face slashed with a sharp weapon. However, instead of rushing her to a hospital, locals filmed the woman, in her 20s, and even ‘interviewed’ her while waiting for the police to arrive.

The police finally took her to a hospital, and she is reportedly stable now. Based on her statement, two men have been arrested for their involvement in the crime — her brother and a relative.

According to the woman, she was attacked because her family was against her decision to marry the man she was in a relationship with.

This incident comes at a time when the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up a new ‘Woman and Child Security Organization’ to tackle the increasing number of crimes against women in the state. The government said in a press release that the unit would be headed by a police officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police – the second senior-most police rank.

Following this incident, the UP police appealed to people to rush victims of assault to a hospital instead of filming them.

‘The time between someone getting injured and that person being taken to hospital is called ‘golden hour’. It’s a crucial time. The Supreme Court has ruled that anyone who takes such a person to the hospital will not be questioned. So I appeal to everyone, instead of making videos please take such a person to the hospital – please do not wait for the police to arrive,’ NDTV quoted senior police officer Avinash Pandey as saying.

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