Bengaluru: From being a pensioner’s paradise and a Garden City, Bengaluru has grown into a sprawling metropolis where rape, murder, and robbery are an everyday affair. Only recently, the IT City, which has many staying out late on work in BPOs and call centres, received a rude shock when a young girl being dropped home after dinner by a friend was raped in Frazer Town, in the heart of Bengaluru. And parents shuddered as a six-year-old complained of being raped in an elite school.
Despite the growing crime, former city police commissioner, H.T. Sangliana, doesn’t think there is a need yet to press the panic button. “With advancement and development, these are inherent negatives that one must expect. We will have to face worse in time to come. This is the way it is in every growing city. We just need to be careful,” he says.
But adapting to a new kind of life on the streets and in once safe neighbourhoods is proving hard for most Bengalureans. News of a 27-year- old cable TV operator raping his neighbour to satisfy his wife’s fetish of watching ‘live sex’ in Jalahalli, of a father attempting to rape his twin daughters, of a 28-year-old home alone woman being brutally murdered for gain and so on send chills down their spine. Many women also complain to being subjected to lewd gestures on even the roads. Ms Rani Shetty, coordinator of the women helpline, Vanitha Sahayavani, says it receives several complaints from teenagers and others of men baring themselves to them in public places.
Says prominent lawyer, Pramila Nesargi, “There is no fear of the law among such criminals. We need stronger penalties and stricter vigilance.” Activist Kathyayini Chamaraj believes rapes are not new to the city but are only being reported widely now. “Women alone are easy targets as many older women don’t bother to check who is outside the door before opening it. Besides, as the wants of people have increased, so have robberies,” she says.
But joint commissioner (crime), M.Nimbalkar Hemant, refuses to accept that Bengaluru is unsafe. “Nobody should think of Bengaluru as an unsafe city. The police is taking all preventive measures against crime. But in most cases, they are random and its hard to put a stop to crimes like a 13 year old being raped by her own father,” he says.
While the police may claim to be doing its job, there are complaints that it is hardly responsive to people in distress. A girl who was robbed in an auto recently while on her way from Koramangala to Kamanahalli, says that on going to the police she found the seriousness of the crime diluted in the FIR. In another instance, a man who went to register a complaint about his bag with his passport, education certificates, 3 gold finger rings and a laptop being stolen, says the Hennur police were far from sympathetic and instead tried to paint him as careless.
Ask Mr Nimbalkar Hemant about such behaviour among his officers and he says they will be pulled up if such cases are brought to his attention. “Recently the city police commissioner held a
special meeting with all inspectors and directed them to give importance to good behaviour and prompt registration of complaints,” he adds.
While crime is on the upswing in the city, its not only women out alone who have reason to worry but even couples out late, especially if they happen to be on deserted roads.
One couple was recently accosted by armed men and robbed of their SUV in HSR Layout, Madiwala police jurisdiction.
And the girl who was raped by a gang of five in a car in Frazer Town, was by no means alone, but was being dropped home by a male friend late in the night after a dinner in a restaurant.
Says joint commissioner (crime), M. Nimbalkar Hemant, “We cannot stop people from going anywhere but I request them to take some small precautions like avoiding secluded places or parking their cars on dark roads as they could become vulnerable to crime in such areas.”
A senior cop also cautions people to be aware of their surroundings when out late and also keep in mind the kind of people they could encounter in such places to avoid becoming sitting targets of criminals.
