A city-based software engineer, who took on a gang of four inebriated men for sexually harassing his female colleague on the busy HAL airport road but allegedly failed to get help from the police, has launched a campaign on social media with the hashtag ‘UselessBengaluruPolice’.
The campaign was launched by Arjun Nandakumar. He alleged that the police control room staff asked him to ‘hold on to the four accused’ till they arrived at the spot. "I wish I had super powers to do that," said Nandakumar in his post.
Notably, no Hoysala vehicle arrived, even though they are supposed to reach a crime spot within 10 minutes of receiving a call for help.
Narrating the ordeal that took place on Friday, he said he was returning to work after having lunch in a nearby restaurant with his colleagues when a group of four drunk men, standing outside a wine shop near their office, groped one of his female colleagues.
The victim slapped one of the drunk men and demanded an apology. When Nandakumar caught one of them, he was attacked. The gang overpowered him and managed to flee in an autorickshaw. His friends called the police control room and narrated the incident. The victims managed to click pictures of the four men before they disappeared in the crowd, he said.
A huge crowd gathered around the victims but they remained mute spectators. "This place (India) has become unsafe for mothers and sisters. While an eight-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir, no other State in India is safe for women," he said in his post, which included photographs of the drunk men.
As the post went viral, the jurisdictional Jeevan Bhima Nagar police tried to get in touch with Nandakumar and trace the four drunk men. "'We got to know about the incident on Monday and are trying to follow up," a senior police officer said.
However, any call to the control room has to be communicated to the jurisdictional police, who are expected to follow up with either a spot visit, or at least a call to the complainant.
Ajai Hilori, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Division), asked the victim to approach the police and file a complaint. He assured necessary action.
