22 December,2021 07:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Shirish Vaktania
A marshal fines a person for not wearing the mask properly at Chembur on Tuesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Even after mid-day's expose on the harassment faced by citizens from BMC marshals implementing mask rules in the city, the high-handedness continues unabated and civic officials remain tight-lipped on the issue. While citizens flood social media with complaints, some more cases of marshals threatening people and extorting money have come to the fore. A couple of days back, some marshals abused and assaulted an NRI, his sister and some women friends near the Gateway Of India. Though the man has complained to the BMC's Disaster Management Cell and Mumbai Police, no action has been taken.
Pratik Raval, who is a resident of Malad and works as a manager in a five-star hotel in Sydney, had gone to a restaurant in South Mumbai with some of his friends and sister on December 19 when the incident happened. Five marshals - three women and two men - approached them outside the restaurant, as they were not wearing masks. The marshals abused them and extorted money from them by threatening to call the cops.
Speaking to mid-day, Raval said, "I have been disturbed since that day. If we can feel threatened by this behaviour, then imagine what people from less-privileged sections of the society will feel." "That day we were out to celebrate a friend's birthday. After lunch we drove to the Gateway of India and found a parking spot behind Taj Hotel. As we were getting off the car, some marshals approached us and asked why we were not wearing masks," said Raval.
A marshal collects fines at Chembur on Tuesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
"They said we would have to pay a fine, but we told them that it was a mistake and would not happen again. They didn't budge, so we took out our wallets to pay them. That is when one of the marshals said that we should pay them just Rs 400 for which they won't give a receipt. While this conversation was happening, I had already given them Rs 200. After realising what their intentions were, I asked them to call their supervisor," he added.
He further said, "The marshals got angry and threatened to call the police. We asked them to do as they wished. They started blocking our way, when I asked them not to touch us. One of them even pushed me. They even abused the women and commented on the way they were dressed. When we asked them to call their supervisor, they just took Rs 200 and disappeared from the spot without giving a receipt. These people were not trained and the BMC should check their backgrounds before hiring them. They are taking undue advantage of those uniforms and looting people. There should be an end to this racket."
Speaking about another incident that happened at Marine Drive, a Bombay Hospital doctor said, "I was travelling along Marine Drive when I spotted about five to six marshals catching people without masks. They were separating men and women and extorting money from them. I even spotted one of them fining a woman who was drinking water by pulling down her mask. It's really embarrassing to see such harassment. I am strongly against this."
The Mumbai Matters twitter handle uploaded a video on Monday in which many hawkers outside CST station were seen without masks. However, none of the marshals were seen fining them. Trivankumar Karnani, who is a legal advisor of Mumbai Matters, said, "The team recorded the video outside VT station where many people were caught without masks. The marshals were seen extorting money from people by not giving them receipts. The team has also recorded similar things happening at Dadar station."
