Reported

Gangs attack women in ‘western attire’
* Deepika Arwind * Two attacks in
broad daylight with people just looking on *

Bangalore: In what appears to be inspired by the pub attack in Mangalore,
three women have been attacked in the city over the past week. All three in
their 20s and in “western clothing” were subject to varying degrees of
violence. The first incident took place on February 17 at 1.10 p.m. in
Indiranagar, when a young woman’s car was closely followed by two men on a
motorcycle. “I was returning from my German class. I noticed the men
following me, hooting and then overtaking my car,” she said on her blog,
giving a detailed account of the unprovoked assault. She was spat on and her
car was blocked even as the other car drivers, instead of stopping to help,
just wanted her to get out of the way.

Speaking to *The Hindu* on condition of anonymity, the traumatised woman
said: “Everyone could see that they were being aggressive and yelling
obscenities in Kannada. No one came to my rescue.” After a chase, she sought
refuge in an apartment building, where she was cornered. One of the men
continued to shout obscenities and moved threateningly close. When she
slapped him in self-defence, he punched her. “Aggravated, I shouted at him
in Kannada. He was stunned to hear me speak the language. He noted down my
licence plate number and told the guard he would harm me later,” she said.
Shaken, she filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).
DCP East B.K. Singh said that the complaint was registered 48 hours after
the incident. “We are not able to identify the accused as the CCTVs at the
signals have recordings for 24 hours only. We are investigating.”
Second assault

The second incident took place on Tuesday at 10 a.m., when a 28-year-old
woman on her way to Kormangala was accosted by four men near RBANM’s College
in Ulsoor. “Four men got off an SUV and started screaming at me. They tugged
at my clothes in front of at least eight mute spectators. One of them even
pulled my shrug off, scratched my neck and hit my ear,” she told *The
Hindu*on condition of anonymity. She said that the four were all aged
between 25
and 35. “When I said I would call the police, one of them offered me his
mobile phone and told me to go right ahead. They saw an airline tag on my
bag, got more aggravated and called me an outsider,” she said. “One of them
said I must be part of the pink chaddi campaign.” Fortunately, an army van
passed by and two soldiers ordered the men to stop harassing the woman.

“At first, the men even shoved the armymen, but stopped after they saw there
were other soldiers in the van. It seemed like they were on a mission and
looking for a victim,” she said, adding she is too shaken to file a
complaint.

Later the same day, at 9 p.m., a young filmmaker was attacked by four men
near High Grounds, past the Mount Carmel College. “At first, they jostled me
and I told them to back off. They shouted obscenities in Kannada. I yelled
back in English, which seemed to provoke them. It grew into a fight when
they punched me and said I ‘deserved’ it for wearing jeans and sleeveless
kurta and walking alone at night.” She managed to get into an autorickshaw
and flee but not before they tried to drag her out. She registered a
complaint at the High Grounds Police Station on Wednesday morning.

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