Bangalore’s shame on Brigade Road

Bangalore’s shame on Brigade Road

Deepthi Govindarajan

Young NRI woman was molested by a mob

The incident happened on New Year’s Eve Police say no such incident has taken place

Bangalore: Even as the media shamed Mumbaikars and their police over the molestation of two women on New Year’s Eve, Bangalore was congratulating itself on how well its citizens conducted themselves during the revelry. Well, here is a reality check: a 21-year-old NRI woman, daughter of a couple from West Bengal, and her 20-year-old American friend were attacked on Brigade Road at 11.40 p.m. on the night of December 31 by a mob.

The woman, a student at General Washington University, Washington D.C., was molested and she suffered bruises while the man, also a student, was roughed up.

The two visitors, who had arrived at Bangalore just that day, had gone to a pub on one of the roads off Brigade Road around 9.30 p.m.

The pub was closing early so the two around 11.40 p.m. and decided to walk down Brigade Road towards Residency Road to catch an autorickshaw back home.
‘Appropriately dressed’

The woman, still to recover from the trauma, took pains to tell The Hindu on Friday she was “appropriately dressed” in a long kurta and jeans.

“As we were nearing the auto stand a mob of about 15 to 20 men started touching me in the wrong places and pulling my clothes. We were unable to defend ourselves so we turned around and started walking back.”

As they walked past Fifth Avenue, nearing the Coffee Day outlet, the same mob formed a semi-circle around them, pushed her to the ground and went on to beat and kick her.

As her companion tried to help her, some of the men held him back while the rest continued to hit her.
Help at last

Their screams for help drew the attention of a young man who brought five or six of his friends to their aid. This group held the mob back and escorted the two into the Coffee Day outlet where the staff gave them shelter and kept the molesters at bay.

An employee at Coffee Day outlet confirmed to this correspondent that he had heard the screams and the two were provided refuge there.

“When we were sitting at the coffee shop we saw the police come and disperse the crowd. But the cops did not speak to us,” the young man from America said.

As the two were too shaken, the man who helped them took the woman’s mobile phone and called her parents who were staying at a serviced apartment on Cornwell Road.

“I got a call from my daughter’s mobile phone at 11.56 p.m.,” the mother confirmed.

The two were escorted home by the Good Samaritan and this friends who summoned an auto. Incidentally, the young woman said the auto driver asked for Rs. 150 for the short distance, and got it.

“My husband and I came running out when they called to tell us they were home. This was around 12.30 a.m. They were both traumatised. My daughter had visible bruises and was completely shaken.”

The men who had brought them back safely did not stop, and once they saw the two in safe hands they sped away on their bikes.
Police denial

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) B.N.S. Reddy said no such incident had taken place and also no one had complained about the alleged incident.

“In fact, from 11.40 p.m. to midnight, Commissioner of Police Neelam Achuta Rao and other senior officers were present on Brigade Road. We all walked down the road from the Cauvery Emporium junction to the Opera cinema. Besides, there was heavy deployment of the police on Brigade Road. No such incident has taken place,” Mr. Reddy told The Hindu.