A disturbing video widely shared on social media depicts a man urinating publicly outside a metro station in Delhi. And it unleashed a furious retort and hatred from internet users. This new case of a public observation of an unidentified bystander filming a subject has sparked such an internet user-wide controversy that a heated debate about public sanitation has erupted around the principles of public etiquette and hygiene in public spaces has become an issue.
Unedited, a brief video posted on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram for its brutal footage of a man calmly urinating against a wall in a Delhi metro station; the time and the specific station on the spot are not immediately known. The clips quickly spread nationwide and millions of people said they were shocked and outraged.
The man has been criticized for his obvious disregard for the people and the cleaning and the effectiveness of the surveillance and authorities present at the metro stations. “It’s disgusting and unacceptable,” one tweet read. “Please remember, the Delhi Metro is such a lifeline for a lot of people and situations like this really don’t make it an experience for anyone.
Delhi Metro??😭 pic.twitter.com/WjYzRMJQA3
— Ghar Ke Kalesh (@gharkekalesh) January 19, 2026
Where are the metro workers?" read another reader, it is astonishing that people can’t even appreciate a notion of civic decency. The public restrooms are there, no one has to perform this in public. But it has also sparked a heated debate about the importance of public toilets in the city. Most stations at the capital, Delhi Metro, have lavatory equipped, but their state, or access to them, will prevent people from using them, and to make public urination seem justified simply does not do so.
But once that video goes viral, people are calling on Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and all other agencies to do something. That means hunting down the individual involved and doing everything they can to take legal action against him, as well as ramping up surveillance on the person involved, public awareness all as measures to avoid the same problem in the future.
Then the incident that ensued is also a potent reminder of the fact that, even in smart and controlled public transport systems, such as the Delhi Metro, citizens continue to struggle to ensure public health and safety. It recalls if not even more so that we as the public as both officials and citizens have an obligation to uphold the public code of decency.
