MYSURU: A month after several women complained of misbehavior at the Dasara open street festival, the issue seems to be heading towards a silent death as not even a single ‘culprit’ has been held in connection with the issue, despite an uproar that led Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to express regret over it.
Notably, the police officials had to release the person nabbed in connection with the lone case filed in this regard, as the complainant, a minor, refused to appear in the court for testimony. She and her mother were stalked by a group of youth who also passed lewd remarks at them. “Since they had the number of the vehicle, the police were able to catch the culprits. The girl even identified the culprit, however she was scared of testifying in the court due to which the case did not proceed,” said a source close to the matter.
Speaking to TNIE, jurisdictional Lakshmipuram police inspector G S Raghu said, “We tried convincing the girl, even the Assistant Commissioner of Police spoke to her but she was not comfortable with it, and without a complainant, we were not able to proceed with the case,” he said.
On being asked about the footage recorded from the spot, the inspector said, “We went through the footages from CCTVs in the area as well as the video recorded from our command vehicle and drones, other than people caught up in rush we could not find any instance of sexual assault or misbehavior,” he said. City Police Commissioner A Subramanyeshwara Rao had said a month ago that they were trying to identify the people who misbehaved with the women at the venue.
However speaking to TNIE, a girl who had revealed her account of assault at the open street festival said, “I will never forget the incident, but I knew that the case would not head anywhere, such incidents are often denied. As a girl I have seen many such incidents downplayed, unless strict actions are taken against the culprits, such incidents will continue.”
Another person close to the matter who did not wish to be identified criticised the way in which the case was treated. “From the beginning, we felt that the police were not keen on proceeding with the case, it was as if they wanted to prove that the open street festival was peaceful.”