Video vs video in Mumbai car-towing controversy: Was there no baby in vehicle initially?

It is video versus video in Mumbai. After footage went viral of Mumbai traffic police towing a car away with a woman - Jyoti Male - apparently breastfeeding her baby inside, a second video has surfaced purporting to debunk what is shown in the recording from yesterday.

The second video (you can watch the video at the end of this report) that surfaced today seems to have been shot moments before Mumbai traffic policemen start towing the car away. The video shows Male sitting in the rear seat of the car with the door open.

Policemen - both in the normal khakhi uniform and the white dress of the traffic department - are seen gathered around the car talking to the woman.

The cops are seen and heard asking the woman to step out of the car, with one of the traffic policemen saying the vehicle is already attached to the two truck.

Notably, the video doesn't show if the woman was already in the car when Mumbai traffic police officials attached it to the tow truck. The most notably aspect of the new video, however, is that the baby involved in this controversy is seen outside the vehicle while it is still stationery and not being towed away yet.

The child is seen in the arms of a man, presumably the father and Jyoti Male's husband. The second, newer video abruptly ends amid all the commotion and doesn't show the moment the traffic cops began towing the car away.

FIRST VIDEO

The original video that went viral yesterday began with the car already being towed by the Mumbai traffic police. Jyoti Male is seen inside the car with the baby from the start of the video.

This video was apparently shot by Male's husband who is heard shouting at the cops that his wife was breastfeeding inside the car when they started towing the vehicle away.

Soon after the video went viral, Male lashed out at the Mumbai Police. "The policemen towing the car did not ask me to get down even once. When I told them that I am breastfeeding my baby they still did not stop," she said.

Two sides to every story, as seen in Mumbai car towing case involving woman with baby #ITVideoFor more videos: https://t.co/NounxnP7mg pic.twitter.com/1hVI4K2wh0- India Today (@IndiaToday) November 12, 2017

QUESTIONS

Between the first and the second video, the question that arises is how did the child get into the car when the recording that surfaced today shows the baby outside the car before it was towed.

Also not clear is whether the woman was already inside the car when Mumbai traffic policemen decided to tow it away. What is clear, so far, is the following: The policemen had tried to get the woman to get out of the car and the baby was outside the vehicle before it was towed away.

What is also clear is that the policemen still decided to go ahead with towing the car away even though the woman - who seems to have refused to pay heed to requests asking her to get out - still was in the car. The cops also likely knew that the baby was in the car as they were towing the vehicle away.

OUTRAGE

The video yesterday generated immense outrage. One of the traffic policemen involved in the incident was immediately suspended soon after the video went viral.

Responding to the first video, Mumbai's Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Amitesh Kumar said , "He (the traffic policeman who was suspended) endangered the life of that infant. Once the lady and child entered the car he should have stopped the towing."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too condemned the actions of the police. "Very unfortunate. Absolutely insensitive & dangerous to tow the vehicle with lady and the child inside. The cop is suspended and orders have been given to sensitize traffic cops so as to prevent such incidents," Fadnavis said in a statement today.

(With inputs from India Today bureau in Mumbai and agencies)

WATCH | The two videos that show different sides of the Mumbai car-towing controversy