So I kind of got mugged

I was driving my sister and her young kid back to their place in a nearby town, when we stopped to eat a packed lunch.
I just parked the car a little way off the road and we were eating, when I notice these two young men....twenty-ish something looking at us from a distance. After some five minutes they and a third guy come over, and tell me that I'm trespassing on their land. I politely tell them that I'm sorry and we're about to leave. The two other chaps though are standing in front of the car, and he says that I'll have to pay a 'rent' for using his land.
His tone was aggressive, but the three of them weren't very big, and I was confident that if it came to blows I could stand my ground long enough to scare them off. So I get out of the car. He backs off, and suddenly starts abusing me, asking me to give him a five hundred rupees. I refuse and tell him to shove off, before things get any worse. At this he directs the two others to pick up some big stone from nearby and tells me that if I don't pay, they'll break the windscreen and windows of my car. My sister and her kid are sitting inside, and all of a sudden I feel more helpless than I've ever done in my life or ever want to again.
I had some 400 bucks on me, I took out my wallet and handed him 200 and tell him that's all I have. He seems satisfied and asks me to get in the car and push off, while the other two were still holding the large stones.
I got in and quickly drove off, trying to ignore the abuses they're yelling behind me.
All the way to her house my sister kept trying to convince that driving away quietly had been the correct choice and how I should not feel upset about it. I don't recall saying anything.
Point is though that now that I've calmed down, I'm having doubts. I feel like a :daisy: coward who fled instead of standing his ground. I should've just called their bluff and driven the car directly into them. I feel.....angry, at them and at myself. And I would give anything to find them again, and deal with them one by one.

Edit:
JFR I went and lodged a complaint with the police but they said that that was a bad area with a lot of disputed land and the chances of finding those thugs were almost non-existant.

It was the good thing to do. If you would have attacked them, they could have used those stones on you!

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

....asking me to give him a five hundred rupees.....
I had some 400 bucks on me,....

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Are you visiting India?

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

Edit:
JFR I went and lodged a complaint with the police but they said that that was a bad area with a lot of disputed land and the chances of finding those thugs were almost non-existant.

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Which means that the thugs will feel free to do it again.

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Originally Posted by Shaka_Khan

Are you visiting India?


Which means that the thugs will feel free to do it again.

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I am from India.
The police said that they were most likely a bunch of drug addict boys who were looking for an easy score.

Sorry to hear that, but you acted in the only way you could have. You shouldn't carry around so much money though.

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Originally Posted by Fragony

Sorry to hear that, but you acted in the only way you could have. You shouldn't carry around so much money though.

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It's not about the money really. 200 bucks is like.....not much at all. That's less than what I generally spend during an evening out. What's hurting right now, is not my wallet, but my pride.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

It's not about the money really. 200 bucks is like.....not much at all. That's less than what I generally spend during an evening out. What's hurting right now, is not my wallet, but my pride.

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Better your pride than them actually throwing a stone through your window no? Glass flying around, maybe even the stone hitting your sister or your nephew, maybe you will see them again when the stakes aren't so high, get even then

Good choices rajpoot :)

Going down in a blaze of glory is always tempting but: cars is ok and no one got hurt=>sometimes its about outcomes, not about you.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

It's not about the money really. 200 bucks is like.....not much at all. That's less than what I generally spend during an evening out. What's hurting right now, is not my wallet, but my pride.

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Ridiculous.

You acted like a man should, and got your sister and her kid safely out of a very hostile situation. Oh, and yourself.

I of course understand where your feelings are coming from though, but really, chill. You did exactly what you should have done!

I'd say you made the right decision considering the circumstances. If they had started breaking your windows, and possibly hurt your sister or her child you would probably feel worse than you do now. You protected them both and you should be proud of that. I would have done the same as you in this situation. :2thumbsup:

You did the right thing, and I'm not saying that to make you feel better.

You put the safety of your family first, which is far more important than the material sacrifice in the end! I can see why you'd be angry given the situation, but you shouldn't be angry at yourself. You made a good call. Imagine how much worse you would feel if you did retaliate and one/some of you got badly injured. As you said, you could have called his bluff, but when you're playing with other peoples livelihoods, this is an irresponsible move.

So kudos to you. :yes:

you did what you could. I doubt you could have done better.

as to your pride? well, we all suffer a few knocks in life. what more can I say?

You should have killed them...

On a more serious note,

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Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV

You acted like a man should, and got your sister and her kid safely out of a very hostile situation. Oh, and yourself.

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+1 absolutely this!

I believe you definitely did the right thing. Your first goal was to ensure the safety of your sister and her child (which you did), second goal would have been to ensure the safety of yourself (which you did) and your third goal should have been to ensure the safety of your belongings (which you did car windscreen wise). Parting with the money is a small price to pay to ensure all above criteria is met.

The bigger man always walks away and doesn't escalate a situation. Scumbags who took your money will probably buy drugs and OD from it anyways, revenge made.

Thanks guys. Feeling a lot better this morning.

Agree with the others.

There will always be situations in life you cannot control, where you feel helpless. It's probably because regardless of your muscles, you're just a tiny speck in the universe or something like that. Important is that you got out and you're fine, your family is fine, your car is fine and you didn't even give them all your money so you got out way better than you could have. That's an achievement in itself.

There's no price you can put on the safety of your family members. Plus repairs for the car would almost certainly cost more than that right?

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Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV

Ridiculous.

You acted like a man should, and got your sister and her kid safely out of a very hostile situation. Oh, and yourself.

I of course understand where your feelings are coming from though, but really, chill. You did exactly what you should have done!

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This - 3 to 1 odds is one thing if it's just you, it's something else when there are women and children involved.

Next time you, don't get out of the car. Just start the engine and reverse.

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This - 3 to 1 odds is one thing if it's just you, it's something else when there are women and children involved.

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I would call that "approaching parity". :wink:

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Next time you, don't get out of the car. Just start the engine and reverse.

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Yes!

I have always found the best way to avoid an unwanted fight is to strip down naked, flex your muscles and say "the gunshow is about to start". Most men will not fight a naked dude. 10% won't mind. 25% if it is in Afghanistan.

Dude, never leave the vehicle.

It is a shame that your right to protect yourself and your family is so limited in India. Those people could have done anything to you, your sister, and her child. The police would surely write a thorough report after the fact, but that is about all they are good for. Did anything ever come of NAGRI?

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Originally Posted by CountArach

Plus repairs for the car would almost certainly cost more than that right?

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Yeah, 3000 at least.

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Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

Did anything ever come of NAGRI?

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Not really. They're still active, but I doubt they'll be able to change anything. It's still near impossible for the common man to buy a firearm here, because for one the amount of red tape and formalities are daunting and secondly the weapons available in the market are old models and priced exorbitantly. I mean AFAIK a snubnosed revolver is the same price as a brand new car.

It would be fun if someone tries to mug our Panzer

From the hypothetical article 'it is unsure which one of the 10.000 bullets that were found in mr **** turned out to be the fatal one'

That's why I keep an armed bear with me all the time.

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Originally Posted by Hax

That's why I keep an armed bear with me all the time.

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You just came out of the closet didn't you? As an American I'm going to label you as a bad person now.

good choice

Know when to hold them, and know when to fold them

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Originally Posted by Strike For The South

good choice

Know when to hold them, and know when to fold them

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That is not enough you have to put them somewhere. My suggestion http://www.pinkorblue.nl/Merknaam/Ha...sen-en-koffers

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Originally Posted by Strike For The South

good choice

Know when to hold them, and know when to fold them

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you know nothing, Vuk will be along shortly to give out some solid martial arts advice and how he could have handled these robbers in a life and death self defense situation

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Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

It is a shame that your right to protect yourself and your family is so limited in India. Those people could have done anything to you, your sister, and her child. The police would surely write a thorough report after the fact, but that is about all they are good for. Did anything ever come of NAGRI?

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A firearm would not have helped in this instance any more than a knife - as it was Rajpoot did the right thing, he lost a bit of money but nobody got hurt.

Rajpoot has learned his lesson; don't get out of the car.

You couldn't have really done much considering the situation. The world is full of crappy people, that's the sad truth. On the bright side there's also a lot of good people too.

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Originally Posted by Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla

A firearm would not have helped in this instance any more than a knife

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No weapon was needed in this instance. However, had those three men wanted more than a quick payoff, a knife would have been a far inferior defensive tool against three men than a gun.

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Rajpoot has learned his lesson; don't get out of the car.

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Indeed. That is never a good idea unless the bad guys are in the car. ~;)

Run them over in your car.

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Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

Run them over in your car.

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Medic! :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

Run them over in your car.

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Believe you me this did occur to me, but only in hindsight. :tongue:

I followed up at the police station, and true to what they'd said the first time, they had made no progress. They had inquired into who actually owned that land, but it turns out it's disputed property, and neither of the owners live anywhere close by. So basically the thugs will go unpunished. The thought still makes me angry, but that's life I guess.

I would say one guy threatening you at the window while his mates block your car with their bodies constitutes a fight or flight situation. That is the first thing I thought of when I saw you write they stood in front of your car.

At the very least, you could say that your foot slipped and you accidentally put the car in gear, assuming you still went to the police after running down two muggers. However after such an event I would strongly recommend repainting your car and changing the license, in case on of the hoods was resourceful enough to run your registration.

But yeah, hindsight is 20/20. We are all just being a bunch of armchair victims. When the time comes to make a tough decision, we all falter to one extent or another, and you had others to look out for in the process. In the end, you all came out unscathed so it was a minor success on your part if you don not miss the cash to much.

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Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

I would say one guy threatening you at the window while his mates block your car with their bodies constitutes a fight or flight situation. That is the first thing I thought of when I saw you write they stood in front of your car.

At the very least, you could say that your foot slipped and you accidentally put the car in gear, assuming you still went to the police after running down two muggers. However after such an event I would strongly recommend repainting your car and changing the license, in case on of the hoods was resourceful enough to run your registration.

But yeah, hindsight is 20/20. We are all just being a bunch of armchair victims. When the time comes to make a tough decision, we all falter to one extent or another, and you had others to look out for in the process. In the end, you all came out unscathed so it was a minor success on your part if you don not miss the cash to much.

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Those are very true words mate.

I've been in some situations where I afterward went "if only I had..."

But let's face it, we're not Bruce Willis. Neither are our lives scripted, the bad guys acting on cue, or the repercussions of an error of judgement as far reaching.

I have trained myself to a level where I could meet one or two street thugs armed with knives and have a fighting chance to get out of the whole thing in an OK state.

However, meeting two street thugs, even if I didn't know if they had knives or not, I would hand them my money at once. Heck, I'd even do it if I had a knife and they didn't.

It's not worth risking something way more valuable than money, for money.

I would, however, have quite some sleepless nights, wrestling with my male ego.


HOWEVER, I guess my main point here as well as in my last post... is that in your case, you shouldn't even do THAT night time wrestle match, as you had more than yourself to look out for.

Your priority as a man should always be to put the need of the women and children before your own needs, and you did. Heck, Chuck Norris would applaud you.

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Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV

Heck, Chuck Norris would applaud you.

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:laugh4:
Thanks man, that's a a really nice thing to say.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

:laugh4:
Thanks man, that's a a really nice thing to say.

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You know what, he totally would.