BENGALURU: A shocking incident of a 28-year-old woman being allegedly sexually harassed on board a BMTC bus on Tuesday night has come to light on Saturday. The Koramangala police are on the lookout for a 65-year-old man who has been accused of the crime. The incident occurred on board a BMTC bus (KA57 F 2654) near the Sony World junction in Koramangala. Four days later, the local police as well as the BMTC are clueless about the identity of the accused, as the bus did not have CCTV cameras and the conductor did not stop the accused from leaving the bus.
According to the complaint, the victim, was returning home from work and boarded the bus near Sony World junction. While seated in the bus, an unidentified man, aged around 65, boarded the bus and stood close to her. The woman says she offered him a seat, but he declined. As the bus began to move again, the man reportedly began touching her inappropriately and even went to the extent of opening his zipper and performing a lewd act.
Furious with his behaviour, the woman screamed at the man and asked other passengers as well as the conductor to help her. However, the passengers reportedly advised her to not make a big deal out of it and even allowed the passenger to get out of the bus stating that he was a senior citizen. The conductor of the bus also did not take any steps to detain the man or help the woman file a complaint, the victim claimed in her complaint filed with the Koramangala police.
Speaking to TNIE, the victim said, “The other passengers did not come to my help as I do not know the local language. The bus conductor also was also not helpful. I took a photo of the man on my mobile phone and I even shared it with the police. I wonder why still the accused has not been arrested so far”.
Police have taken up a case against an unknown person under Section 354 (sexual harassment) and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and are trying to track him down based on the physical description provided by the victim.
It is alleged that the Koramangala police did not take the case seriously initially. However, a senior police officer clarified that the case had not been treated as important by the BMTC staff despite the police informing them over several calls. Several efforts to reach BMTC officials for a comment on the issue were unsuccessful.