Horrendous murder, unbothered bystanders

A few days back, spine chilling crime scene took place in the bustling city of Delhi on a busy street where a 20-year-old criminal, Sahil Khan stabbed a minor girl, Sakshi aged 16 years nearly 20 times using a knife and smashed a concrete slab 5 times. The victim inarguably succumbed to injuries and the criminal was absconding for the following 2 days. The horrible crime took place in Delhi's Shahbad dairy area on 29 May 2023. After committing the crime, Sahil absconded from Delhi via bus and was later arrested in Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh. 

The blood-curdling murder surely depicts aggression and cruelty that is hard to explain. Another startling thing that drew everyone's attention was the inaction shown by the passers-by or the bystanders,who witnessed the murder taking place but didn't take any action as in to stop, control or report the crime happening. Nearly 15-17 people passed by the street where the entire scene unfolded but none of them took any initiative. This can be explained using a psychological concept called, the Bystanders effect. 

This effect was studied by researchers, John Darely and Bibb Latané. 

To understand the mysterious phenomenon which tries to explain why no one probably comes forward to help, we must initially understand the puzzling and famous murder case in New York which the researchers studied to put forward this concept. The well-known murder occurred in New York City, where a young woman named, Kitty Genovese was killed by a man in an area where many people could see and witness what was going on. Despite the presence of around 38 bystanders, none of them did anything to stop the murder and none of them reported the crime. This led to the rise of many questions about declining humanity and tolerance of the people who witnessed the tragic offence but showed no acts of help. 

John Darley and Bibb Latené were curious to find out the main reason behind this universal pattern of human behavior and came up with the classic concept of social psychology which says that "all the witnesses assumed that someone else would do it and it was OK for them to do nothing because others would tackle the situation." Researchers referred to it as diffusion of responsibility which suggests that the greater number of people witnessing the distressing scene, the less likely are the victims to receive any help. Whereas if only one person is witnessing the mishappening, then that person will feel a greater responsibility to offer assistance, because there is no one else to rely upon. The psychological phenomenon makes the entire crowd wait for someone else to act. However there are exceptions to the above mentioned rule wherein some people go beyond all odds to help the needy. 

In the CCTV footage of Sakshi's murder in Delhi, around 15 + people passed by the street but unfortunately, the victim didn't get any support. By giving a name to the phenomenon we cannot justify the behavior of the bystanders. One person is enough to make a change and to stop evil from happening or at least report it and do the needful. We all must actively work towards not letting the bystander effect control our actions and creating safer communities.