Yeah I know the title sounds over-dramatic but just hear me out before you accuse me of trolling. I am a 20 year old guy and this past summer, I went to go visit some relatives over in Pakistan. Now I am sure alot of you are familiar with Pakistan as being a shady screwed up country that no one can trust. I guess that's mostly true since my own view of the country is FAR from positive despite the fact that I was born and raised there before I moved over to Canada at the age of 9.
Anyways, I was in Pakistan this past summer in the city of Karachi. I stayed there for about a month. While I was there, I spent a few days with one of my cousins. The neighborhood that he lives in is filled with gang-violence, drug-trafficking and is home to some of the worst levels of scum that the human race can produce (this is sadly true for most of the neighborhoods there). There are decent people there of course but alot of the people in power as well as the gangs themselves are a major source of villainy.
One day, I went to a local pharmacy to get some medicine for my uncle who was feeling a little ill. I normally didn't go outside by myself because it wasn't safe (usually one of my cousins came with me). However, the pharmacy was nearby so I didn't think it would be a big deal. I grabbed the medicine and began walking back home.
On my way home, I saw a guy suddenly stop his motorbike in the middle of the road. He began talking very loudly with some of the folks on side of the road who were apparently his friends. The taxi behind him suddenly pressed the brakes and bumped his bike slightly. The guy on the bike almost fell off. The guys on the side of the road started yelling, the guy on the bike got up and looked super angry. He went up to the taxi and dragged the driver out. The driver looked familiar, he lived on the same street as my cousin, his name was Anwar. He was a nice guy who made a honest living. He wasn't involved with drugs, gangs or anything like that.
Anyways, the guy who was on the bike dragged him out, grabbed his neck and held him against the side of the taxi. The guys who were standing on the side of the road kept saying "beat him like a dog!". It was obvious that these guys were part of a local gang. They all came together and started beating Anwar (the cab driver) viciously. The poor guy fell on the ground and screamed out in pain. Me and everyone around me and stood there and watched as these animals kicked and beat him to the brink of death. I was on the other side of the street and I could hear his bones being broken. It was the most soul crushing thing I had ever seen.
At the end of it all, the guy was just lying there in a bloody mess. After it was all over, the gangsters went back to the side of the road and started laughing. The guy was just lying there, infront of them, at the brink of death. I couldn't even believe I just saw all that happen right infront of me. It didn't feel real, as cheesy as it sounds, it really did feel like a nightmare. Now after growing up in Canada for so long, my first reaction was to go up there and help the guy. The problem is that the gangsters were standing right there, a few feet away from the victim. One of them had a 9mm strapped to his side. I was shivering in fear, these guys just beat someone like an animal for like nothing. What the hell were they gonna do to me if I even looked at them wrong?, I didn't have the courage to go up there and help the victim. No one did a thing, everyone tried to look away and pretend it didn't happen.
I just stood there for a moment but as soon as one of the gangsters looked at me, I immediately started walking away. I had never felt so terrified in my life. I went from walking to running, I ran home as fast as possible. As soon as I got home, I immediately ran to the washroom and threw up. I literally started crying at that point. I am a grown man, I rarely cry but this time I just couldn't hold myself back. I didn't speak to anyone for hours after that. Later that day, I told my cousin what had happened. He was shocked but he immediately told me to keep my mouth shut and pretend it never happened.
He said that contacting the authorities was not an option both because they were just as corrupt as the criminals and wouldn't do anything about it AND because he was afraid of any retaliation these local crime-lords would carry out against his family if they ever found out that we were trying to get them arrested. So long story short, these animals essentially murdered a man and got away with it. Yes, the guy died from his injuries right there on the street and no one did a damn thing about it. I read it in the newspaper the next day. According to the paper, no one knew who was responsible for killing the man. My ass no one knew! every damn person on the street saw the savages who did it.
My cousin told me there were rumors that the police did know who was responsible for it but were bribed to look the other away. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. The country has turned into an anarchy and is getting worse every day. But now I am just rambling, the reason I decided to post this is because these past few days, I've been thinking alot about this incident. Its been a couple of months since it happened but I still feel like crap every time I think about it. What makes it even worse is that I knew the who the victim was. I had several conversations with him, he was a good guy.
So what I really wanted to ask you all is that were my actions reasonable? Was I a bad person for walking away like that?