Several men detained after Bengaluru molestation video surfaces, families protest

The three minute footage shows a woman being sexually assaulted by two men, while four others watch.
Several men detained after Bengaluru molestation video surfaces, families protest
Several men detained after Bengaluru molestation video surfaces, families protest
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The Banasawadi police have detained several men in connection with the groping incident in Kammanahalli on New year's Eve. 

The police are questioning the youth. 

The family members of those who were detained gathered outside the police station on Wednesday morning, and protested against the police's move.

"At around 10 am, my son Phillip saw the news on TV. He identified the house as being in the neighbourhood, and went down to see what was happening there. He did not come home for a while. I later saw him on the news being detained by the police. He was with us on that night. We all celebrated New Year's Eve at home. He is just 21 years old. He came home that night at 9.30pm and did not step out of the house," said Mary, Phillip's mother.

There were roughly 15 to 20 people gathered outside the police station, along with media persons. The family of those who were detained, maintained that their sons were at home during the time of the incident. 

"My son Arun is a driver for the BBMP. I am a pouakarmika. This morning the police said that they just wanted to question him but they are not even letting us see him now," said Arun's mother.

"At the time of the incident, my brother was washing his vehicle. Even though I was not with him, I know that he is innocent. If he has done anything wrong, arrest him, but how can they detain him like this? We have not even been allowed to meet him," says the brother of one of the men taken away.

Speaking to TNM, Inspector Munikrishna stated that around 15 men had been detained since Wednesday morning.

He also said that the police were accessing CCTV camera footage from six different locations. 

The police are tracing the location of the cellphones of the detained men, to establish if they were present in the area at the time of the incident.

Women and Child Development committee head and Independent MLA, Vinisha Nero, said, "We are here to say that the government of Karnataka is not going to let the culprits get away and they will be brought to justice. Such instances are happening because these miscreants are not afraid of the law. I also blame the way they are brought up and the values that are taught in school. The boys should be taught how to treat women. They say a woman is a goddess. But they treat her like that only at home and resort to such activities if she is out in public."

A three-minute odd footage from 5th Main in Kamanahalli that was uploaded online, has caused national outrage. 

The footage recorded at 2.38 am on New Year’s Day shows two women getting down from an auto rickshaw. The first woman walks steadily and moves out of the camera’s view. 

The second woman pays the auto driver and walks into the dimly lit lane. Three bikes with two men on each arrive at the end of the street and one bike follows her into the lane.

One of them forcibly hugs her, sexually assaults her and drags her to his friend on the bike. The two men try to pull her clothes off. The girl puts up a brave fight throughout and tries to overpower the man. Finally, they push her on the road and leave. 

The Banaswadi police station was just a few hundred metres away.

The video comes even as the city is reeling from the alleged “mass molestation” on MG Road on New Year's Eve, which was also picked up by several media houses.

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