BENGALURU: Four persons were arrested in connection with the molestation that took place on Kammanahalli road in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve.
The arrested persons have been identified as Leno, Aiyappa, Raju and Soma. Two of the accused at still are large.
According to police, among the six persons, two of them followed the woman and groped her. The arrested are locals and had known the woman for some time. One among the accused had also visited the PG where the woman lived to deliver food in the past. One among them is reportedly a student pursuing B.Com.
Reportedly, the accused have been stalking the victim for quite some time. However, on 1 January 2017, it reached the threshold when the accused followed her while she was heading to her PG in an auto with her friend and molested her. Leno is allegedly the person who molested her and pushed her to the ground.
At a press conference, home minister G Parameshwara who has been facing the heat over the molestation incidents that occurred during New Year celebrations in the city, said that 550 CCTV additional cameras would be installed in sensitive places across the city in the next two months. "In all, 5,000 CCTV cameras will be installed phase by phase. Presently Dial 100 helpline of police have 15 lines. We will upgrade it to 100 lines at the cost of Rs 14 crore", he said.
"Bengaluru is still a safe place for women and children and there will be zero tolerance on crime against women and children," he said.
He also requested media persons to share the photographs and video footages from MG Road and Brigade road on New Year's Eve.
"I am extremely pained by the fact that my statement with respect to the alleged molestation incident on New Year's Day, has been interpreted out of context and not taken in its entirety. I sincerely believe that the choice of every citizen of our country should be respected. Women have equal rights, respect and protection under our constitution. From the day I took over as home minister I have stressed on the protection of women and children and will continue to do so. The Bangalore Police is working round the clock going through footage of all the CCTV cameras and following up on all the leads available. We will take necessary action suo motu in this regard. We also request people with any information to come forth and report it to the police," he added.
The home minister also said he had received notices both from National Commission for Women as well as Delhi's Women Commission. “I will respond to both the notices and check whether Delhi's Commission has jurisdiction over our State," he added. Meanwhile governor Vajubhai Vala has also sought a report from the government over the attacks on women and Parameshwara said a report would be submitted to him at the earliest.