A day after the police received CCTV footage of two men on a scooter molesting a woman and dragging her down a deserted lane in Kammanahalli in the wee hours of January 1, they rounded up 10 suspects on Wednesday.
The Kammanahalli case was the second shocking New Year eve incident after the alleged mass molestation reported on M.G. Road and Brigade Road, which has raised larger concerns on the safety of women on Bengaluru’s streets.
“We are questioning them based on both the CCTV footage that was sent to us, as well as footage from other cameras in the locality,” said a senior police official.
The footage showed the men intercepting a woman as she stepped out of an autorickshaw to walk to her paying guest accommodation. While the pillion rider watched, the unidentified rider got down, grabbed the woman and molested her. The woman resisted and even slapped the accused, following which the man threw her onto the road and sped away.
Barely a few yards away, two other men on two bikes watched the entire incident. “We believe that the men on the bike were known to the attackers and were working with them,” the police officer added.
The woman was accompanied by a female friend, who went into the PG while the victim stayed behind to pay the auto driver. The men used this opportune moment to attack her. Despite witnessing the attack, the auto driver drove off a few seconds later without helping the woman, said the police. The incident was captured on the CCTV cameras that a neighbouring house had installed a week ago.
The police are under immense pressure to solve the case as its image has taken a beating following the spate of alleged molestation of women by revellers on M.G. Road and Brigade Road during New Year celebrations. A special team, headed by Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Hemanth Nimbalkar, is probing the case.
Condemning the attack, the Karnataka State Commission for Women has taken suo motu action and have asked the jurisdictional police to file a detailed report.
