8/06/2017
PUNE: The
post-Brexit rise in racist attacks, both physical and verbal, have had
non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the UK at the receiving end ever since Britain's
decision to break away from the European Union (EU) was announced in February
2016. And, this Pune couple wasn't spared either. But, in a triumph of justice
that would give hope to millions of other NRIs, Sachit Poonekar and Tejal
Sonwalkar took the case to court and managed to elicit a favourable order and a
compensation.
Living in the town of Swindon in England's Wiltshire county
for about a decade now, Poonekar and Sonwalkar consider England their second
home and run a flourishing Indian food joint business there. On October 7,
2016, they were heading out of their restaurant for a delivery when Poonekar
had an argument with one Michael Francis Wright over what side of the road
to drive on. That's when Wright hurled abuses at the couple.
The case was later taken up for investigation by the police
and on May 18, the Chippenham magistrate court ruled in their favour and asked
Wright to pay up for the harassment.
"As is the norm here, the outgoing traffic is always
given preference. There were three other cars behind me as I was leaving the
parking to step out, and the British couple's (Wright's) car was coming from
the opposite direction. They kept asking me to 'Go back', which I agreed to. We
moved back, including the three cars behind me, to make way for this one car.
When his car came parallel to mine, he got out to abuse me," recalled
Poonekar.
He couldn't fathom the intention of the accused, but his
aggressive behaviour certainly came as a shocker and gave Poonekar and his wife
a few sleepless nights. "When the couple got out of the car, the guy
started hurling abuses at me and even called me a 'f**king Asian monkey'. The
fear that the next thing would be a blow coming my way, given the guy's big
build, made me refrain from saying anything," Poonekar added. The cops,
who were informed about the incident, arrived at the scene 10 minutes later and
immediately started their investigation. They recorded the statement of the
people around and, luckily for Poonekar the bystanders were ready to be
witness.
Since Poonekar had managed to take a picture of the car's
number plate, he was able to produce it in his statement to the cops. That is
how Wright could be traced. After the court hearing that followed, Poonekar won
the case. "Winning the case was important for me not because I needed the
compensation, but because I needed to know that the place I called my second
home considered me a part of it, too. There are so many like me who face issues
like this on a daily basis. Standing up against the bullies is what they must
do, no matter what," he insisted, adding, "Ever since Brexit, there
have been several cases of racial abuse. I have myself heard of many that
occurred in London. But our neighbourhood mostly comprises Polish and Hungarian
people. There aren't many Indians here, so we didn't hear of incidents
involving racial slurs on them, till it happened to us."
In the order that was issued on May 19, the magistrate court
sentenced Wright to pay £120 as fine, £400 as compensation, £30 as victims'
surcharge and £ 220 as crown prosecution service (CPS) costs, stating, "On
07/10/2016 at Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, used threatening or abusive
words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a
person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress, thereby, and the
offence was racially aggravated within the terms of section 28 of the Crime and
Disorder Act 1998. Contrary to section 31(1) (c) and (5) of the Crime and
Disorder Act 1998".
Wright will also have a criminal record for this behaviour,
which will stay in the police books for six years.
0 comments:
Post a Comment