Told to stop harassing women, Karnataka college students vandalise restaurant

A group of college students allegedly vandalised a drive-through restaurant in Karwar early on Sunday morning. Their reason – a waiter at the restaurant told them to stop harassing women customers.

It all began in the early hours of Sunday, when 54 students of Mandya’s BGS College stopped at the restaurant while returning from a trip to Dandeli.

“At around 1am on Sunday, the bus in which the boys were travelling, stopped at Drive-In Hotel in Karwar Town. There was an air of brashness about the boys and they were also under the influence of alcohol. Till they walked in the place was quiet and when they came in it became loud and very noisy,” said Ganapati Ulwekar, the hotel owner.

Ganapati said that some women customers were also eating at the restaurant, and some of the college students began harassing them.

“The girls were already at the hotel when the college boys came in. They were just laughing and loud but after a few minutes, they began catcalling and made the girls very uncomfortable. One of the girls told the staff to get the bill soon because of this. When the staff went up to the boys and asked them to leave, they pushed him and began arguing,” Ganapati said

Soon, the fight got out of hand, and the college students began throwing chairs and tables and even broke windows at the restaurant.

“When we asked the boys to leave, they pushed the staff around and vandalised the place. They even entered the kitchen and broke the windows. I called the Karwar Town Police Station immediately and the police arrived after a few minutes,” Ganapati added.

According to the Karwar Town Police, the students were still vandalising the restaurant when they arrived.

“We detained all the 54 of them and took them to the station. A case of vandalism has been filed against five of the boys, as they were the ones who started the ruckus. We have not booked them for sexual harassment as the women did not file any complaint. All of them have been let out on bail and they have returned to Mandya,” a police official said.