A city bus driver did not stop while his vehicle was moving along a boulevard. That is exactly what the rules require him to do. When he reached the stop, he was physically attacked by the same person who had been trying to get on.

The case was reported to Skopje police in the evening. According to the report, S.S. (49) from Skopje was attacked while carrying out his duties, at a bus stop in the Centar municipality.

So: a man doing his job correctly took a beating for it.

Second report: an attack mid-journey

The same daily police log contains another incident on public transport. J.P. (44) from Skopje reported that on 25 August, at around 5.10pm, she was physically attacked by another woman on a city bus running through the Bit Pazar area.

There is no official information on what preceded the attack, or whether the two women knew each other beforehand. The Interior Ministry says measures are being taken to fully establish the facts and identify the person attacked.

Third incident, same pattern

On 25 August at 7.25pm, Skopje police registered one more report. A.M. from Skopje stated that at around 6pm, outside a shop in Skopje's Old Bazaar, following an argument he was physically attacked by a man who used a metal object.

Three reports. A bus, a bus stop, the bazaar. All in public places, all in broad daylight or early evening, all involving people who were not in any prior conflict - at least none the police established.

Who carries the cost

A city bus driver has a job that means making decisions in a second: whether to stop, whether to open the door, whether to let someone into a moving vehicle. Every one of those decisions is regulated precisely because a mistake means an injured person under the wheels.

If the consequence of a correct decision is a beating at the stop, then next time that driver thinks twice. And at that point the problem stops being his and becomes the problem of every passenger on that bus.

In all three cases the Interior Ministry says measures are being taken to establish the facts. That is a formulation we see every day. What we do not see is what happens afterwards - how many of these reports of assault in a public place end in charges, and how many quietly run out somewhere between the investigation and being forgotten.