Victim called for help, but nobody came to her rescue.
By Dileep Thekkethil
For years Bengaluru was considered safer than some of the other Indian metropolitan cities, but recent incidents of crime against women have tainted that status.
In a yet another shocking incident in Bengaluru, a Manipuri woman who was talking on the phone outside her paying guest (PG) accommodation was abducted and assaulted by an unidentified man who allegedly called her a whore.
According to the victim, the attacker abducted her and then dragged her to a nearby under-construction building in an alleged bid to rape her. Fortunately for the victim, she managed to escape from the hands of her abductor and run to the PG, where she told her ordeal to her friends.
The attack was captured by CCTV cameras installed in the Katriguppe locality on April 23 but as of now the police has no clue whatsoever about the attacker.
According to a News18 report, the victim is a 25-year-old woman who hails from Manipur but was born and brought up in the Bengaluru.
The victim narrated the horrifying incident to News18.
“I was dropped off near my paying guest accommodation by a friend at around 10 o’clock in the night. As I started walking towards my hostel, I got a call from a friend. I stood by the roadside and took the call. There were a few two-wheelers on the road, so I stepped back. I was engrossed in my talk.
“Suddenly somebody came from behind, lifted me like an animal and took me to an under-construction building nearby. It took a few seconds for me to realise what was happening. He pushed me onto the floor and tried to harm me. I fought and pushed him back and tried to run away. He then caught me by my hair and pushed me onto the floor again.
“I started screaming and crying. But, nobody came to my rescue. Finally, I bit his hands, freed myself and ran towards my PG accommodation
“When I entered my room, I was trembling. My hostel-mates told me they heard my screaming. But, nobody came to my rescue. My PG owners are good people. They were looking scared. Nobody offered me even water. I asked my PG hostel owner to call the police. He thought it was not good for his business to call the police. My PG mates were busy watching actor Ramesh interviewing actor Sudeep on TV.”
“I feel he was following me and that it was a planned abduction. He was roaming around the area, looking for a target. He did not look like a local Kannadiga. He looked like an outsider. Maybe from Tamil Nadu, I am not sure. After I escaped, I started shouting “catch him, catch him”. He looked back and said, “You are a whore.”
According to the victim, it took her one week to come out of the shock after which she approached the police. The police after registering the FIR went in search of CCTV footages from the nearby area where the incident happened and found one that captured the ordeal of the victim.
In another incident last week, a girl who also hailed from the north-east, was racially abused by an auto driver who asked her to speak Kannada. When she retaliated the driver almost took his sandal off and tried to slap her. The auto driver was arrested after the girl lodged an FIR at Cubbon Park Police Station.
The recent increase in crime against women in many parts of the city has raised serious concern among the largely migrant-dominated society and this might culminate in India’s technology hub losing its safer city status.
Watch the video of the incident.