Hang the victim and free the criminal.

Rich young guy drives to high-class hotel in a costly car and gets drunk on costly brew.
Against common-sense and the advice of people around him, decides to drive back home himself.

The brew has started acting for sometime now and his reflexes are down, but his mind has
the need for speed. He races the car without taking into account his inability to control it
under the influence. Loves the high that speed gives him. And not to mention the high from
the brew in his system.

Misses a turn and takes the car onto the pavement, where some poor sods are having a
well-deserved sleep after toiling all day. Runs over few of them, killing some and injuring
others.

The next day dawns with the newspapers reporting yet another case of drunken driving, resulting in a few deaths. But then the lives lost are dispensable, being that of poor labourers that can't even afford a roof over their head. The police are now all over the city, checking drivers under the influence. More like locking the stables after the horses have bolted. And
that too for a few days, till the public and media forget this story and latch onto another one.

Amidst all the public outrage at drunken driving, there is another view point. One that completely ignores the fact that the accident was a result of a stupid and illegal act by a
so-called educated person. As per the promoters of this view point, the actual culprits
were those that were sleeping on the pavement.

As you look at them surprised, they elaborate their rationale. Pavements are not for
sleeping. If those stupid guys were not sleeping there, they would not have been killed.
So it is their fault that they lost their sorry lives. These people would even quote from
some archaic law that says that sleeping on the pavements is a crime.

They would also make out a case against the contractor who brought these guys from
rural areas to work in cities and did not provide proper accomodation. Also on the blame
list would be the City Corporation for not taking action against such contractors and for
not evicting the homeless from the pavements.

And what if the victims were not sleeping but just walking on the pavement at the time
of the accident ? Since pavements are meant for walking, they would not be able to answer
this one. Hopefully they won't say that while the rich are cruising the streets, all other
forms of human life should keep off the roads and pavements.

But then, who knows, maybe they would say that also.