Bengaluru: The city police were just patting their backs after a breakthrough in the Kammanahalli molestation case, when they were hit by another sexual assault case in KG Halli on Friday morning.
A woman wearing a hijab was allegedly molested by an unknown man around 6.30 am on Friday while she was walking to catch a bus, laying bare Home Minister G. Parameshwar’s claim that women clad in Western clothes were targeted by louts on MG Road and Brigade Road on New Year’s Eve.
Video secured from CCTV installed in front of a shop shows a man following the victim.
Like Kammanahalli incident, Friday’s molestation too came into the open from the footage of a CCTV installed at a shop in KG Halli. The footage shows the woman walking towards the bus stop and the accused following her. The victim revealed that the man sexually assaulted her. She said that the man bit her tongue, which led to a bleeding wound, and injured her hands and legs. The accused fled when the victim screamed, stray dogs howled and the public started gathering. The victim immediately called her family members, who took her to a hospital, where she was treated as an outpatient.
Victim sustains injuries on tongue, hand and feet.
The family approached a shop seeking CCTV footage and filed a complaint at the KG Halli police station. The KG Halli police have started the investigation and are collecting CCTV footage from other places in the area to identify the accused. CCTV footage from a nearby tea stall has also captured the image of the accused walking behind the woman.
The police suspect that the accused could be from the same area. “The victim tried to escape from the accused and fell on the road, sustaining injuries. We have taken up a case under Sections 354 (outraging the modesty) and 341 (punishment for wrongful restrain) of the IPC against the accused,” said the police.
Beware! Beast on prowl at KG Halli
The victim of molestation in KG Halli had visited her relatives in HBR layout and was walking towards the bus stop to catch a bus to her residence in Banaswadi when the incident occurred around 6.30 on Friday morning. The incident was recorded in a CCTV installed at a tea shop owned by Muzid.
He said that the stretch where the incident occurred was 9th Cross and he gave the CCTV footage after the victim’s family requested him. “Looking at the footage, it is clear that the accused was following her for some time,” he said. The victim, clad in a hijab, was seen walking towards Govindarajpura Main Road to reach the bus stop when the accused pounced on her. The accused fled when the victim started screaming for help and local residents gathered around her. The residents alerted her family members, who rushed to the spot and took her to Dr B.R. Ambedkar Hospital where she was treated as an outpatient.
Incidentally, Home Minister G. Parameshwar and city Police Commissioner Praveen Sood were at KG Halli to the lay the foundation stone for a new police station. When asked about the molestation incident, Dr Parameshwar said that he had no information, but would direct the police officers concerned to solve the case as early as possible.
Kammanahalli victim identifies the accused
The police on Friday finally managed to get the statement of the victim in the Kammanahalli molestation incident that occurred on New Year’s Eve, said sources in the police department. Sources further revealed that the victim identified the two prime accused, but had no information on the other arrested. The police had filed a suo motu case based on the CCTV footage obtained from the house of a resident in the area. The Banaswadi police on Friday arrested the fifth accused, James (20), in the case. He too is a delivery boy for online portals, the police said.
