The incident in Pune where the 17-year-old son of an ultra-rich realtor named Vishal Agarwal hit two individuals on a two-wheeler with his over-speeding Porsche, leading to their death, has shaken the entire nation. Vedant Agarwal was driving the car at an alleged speed of 200-240 km/hr. He is underage. He was drunk. His recklessness led to the death of two innocent individuals – both 24-year-old software engineers from Madhya Pradesh who were working in Pune.
However, some people think it is fitting to question the victims, especially the female victim of the incident – Ashwini Kostha – what they were doing on the road so late at night. The accident had allegedly taken place at 2.30 AM on a Saturday. A few even went on to question the clothing of the female victim. Here is a screenshot of a user on X shaming the deceased woman’s “tight shorts”. The user questioned as to why the parents of the individuals didn’t restrict their nightlife.
These are not the correct questions to ask here. The two individuals were adults, living away from their families in a different city. They were financially independent adults who had crossed the age of parental supervision. Their only mistake in this case seems to be travelling on a two-wheeler without wearing helmets.
Vedant Agarwal, the accused, is the one who needed parental supervision. He is an underage boy, when it comes to both drinking and driving. The Porsche, on the other hand, wasn’t even registered. He and his parents are the ones who need to be questioned. Not the victims. More so not the female victim’s clothing.
The above screenshot was shared by a journalist named Gautam S. Mengle who highlighted how a woman, who lost her life, was being shamed for the clothes that she was wearing.
Just to be clear, a dead girl is being shamed in this tweet for the clothes she was wearing.
A girl who died after being run over by a drunk driver who isn’t legally of drinking age. pic.twitter.com/kQTkJbzs7q
— Gautam S. Mengle (@NotMengele) May 22, 2024
Several people online were taken aback by the sheer ridiculousness of such an attitude displayed by people. Here’s what they had to say:
Arvind kalyan needs to be told that accidents happen because of bad drivers not because of the clothes a girl is wearing. Cars don’t have penises which get erect and sway when they see a woman. If a city is safe to roam around at night, why shouldn’t they? Absolute dumbfuck https://t.co/XpszmoP2pv
— Y 🦋 (@masaal_dosa) May 22, 2024
Mysoginy & Victim Blaming are together hand In glove, Victim was at the Wrong Place,At wrong Time , Wearing Wrong Clothes With Wrong People as per These Buffons is Worth discussing than A Minor Unalived 2 people under Influence of Alcohol ,Koi apna Marta tohh bhi yahi kehte 😡🤬 https://t.co/YojIdMOwqR
— SAPIOSEXUAL (@sheoran_pu84614) May 22, 2024
She was probably getting home from work but what was this 17 year old doing at sich late hours outside..?? What kind of parents allow their children to drink and roam outside at night..??
— Namo namo (@Dg__ff) May 22, 2024
What is illegal here? A girl wearing shorts at night or A underage teenage drinking and driving??
— sahil mahajan (@sahilmahjn210) May 22, 2024
character shaming in India normalise so much that people will justify his tweet. This is so disgusting but can’t help when we such hateful environment.
— Deep (@deeptantalizing) May 22, 2024
Driving drunk is more acceptable than being out in comfy clothes in the heat after ‘Sandhya’.
— Bazzinga Bich (@thewayVsaysWOW) May 22, 2024
According to a report by NDTV, the two victims were returning from a get-together late on Saturday.
What has our society come down to?