Bengaluru: It is an occupational hazard for women who have to work late at night and drive home themselves. They have to often contend with youths moving in groups on bikes or SUVs, who chase them, eve-tease and pass lewd comments.
With hardly any presence of police on the city roads, they even risk their lives.
In a recent incident, a woman entrepreneur had to undergo tense moments on Sunday night, when she was allegedly waylaid and eve-teased by a group of men, while on her way to Indiranagar from Banaswadi.
Narrating her ordeal, the complainant (name withheld) told Deccan Chronicle how a group of four men travelling in a SUV followed her, made vulgar gestures and chased her until she dodged them.
The incident took place around 10:30 pm. “I was driving from Banaswadi towards Indiranagar. It started at the signal of the railway tracks after the Chikka Banaswadi fly over. As I looked through my window, the car next to me (Hyundai Creta, KA 53 ME 6369), had three to four men staring and making intimidating gestures at me,” she said.
When the complainant tried to confront them, they started chasing her. “When I tried to ask them what they are up to, they began laughing at me and chased my car. I slowed down hoping they will pass, but they too slowed down. They followed me through the entire stretch of 100 ft road Indiranagar. While the chase was on, they kept flashing the high beam lights at me,” the complainant added.
However the woman was able to outwit them when she reached near 12th Main. She took a sudden turn to evade them for HAL near Domlur.
“They took a turn on 12th main and tried to get ahead of my car and kept flashing their lights. To my luck, I think they lost me at the Domlur fly over where I turned left towards HAL. I was scared and didn’t know where to go for help as it was late at night. I know that if they had not lost my car in the traffic they would have continued following me. This could have led to anything,” the complainant said.
The complainant has approached the city police in this regard and has lodged an e-plaint.
On December 4, a 33-year-old woman software professional was harassed, waylaid, abused and cornered by a cab driver near Silk Board Junction.
