A video that has gone viral on social media shows an illegal woman hawker abusing and threatening a man with a knife near the Airport Road metro station in Mumbai's Andheri. It appears that the man who was being abused recorded the woman and uploaded the video on social media.
The video shows the agitated woman hurling abuses at the man while he recorded her. According to the video, two men tried to pacify her.
The video highlights the issue of encroachment by illegal hawkers on Mumbai roads, causing inconvenience to the general public.
Sharing the video of the incident, a user named Abhinav Bharat stated, "Encroachment on the road. Today, an illegal hawker pulled out a knife to kill. She was about to attack a man."
Tagging the official handles of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Mumbai Police, he demanded the removal of illegal hawkers from the area.
Enroanchment on road.
— Abhinav Bharat (@AbhinavBhara) September 23, 2024
Today the illegal hawkers owner remove knife to kill
She is going to beat a man
Please remove illegal hawkers from Church road Airport metro station Andheri east@mybmc @mumbaimatterz @MumbaiPolice @mybmcWardKE @AndheriPeople @MarolMoVo @NiteshNRane pic.twitter.com/gdnrFbiY2g
Mumbai Police respond
Responding to an X post, Mumbai Police said that senior officials of MIDC Police Station have been informed about the incident for further action.
Earlier this month, in a crackdown on illegal hawkers, the BMC cleared 14 locations in Andheri West. These areas include SV Road, the Andheri station area, CD Barfiwala Road, and N Datta Approach Road, among others. The list of cleared spots was submitted to the BMC with the aim of making them permanently hawker-free, following a joint meeting between Advanced Locality Management (ALM) and civic officials.