Violent Wednesday for 3 Women in City

When Shanthala approached the showroom employees, they said she was a woman and must have done something wrong for their colleague to have punched her.

Two women faced violence in Bangalore on Wednesday: one for standing up for her rights and another for spurning a proposal. A third woman was molested in full public view.

Shanthala Bhat was walking towards the signal near Sagar Hospital on Bannerghatta Road when she found the footpath blocked by vehicles from a car showroom.

“The road is busy and the footpath is narrow. I was afraid to step out the road as vehicles speed by. I approached a showroom employee who said many vehicles had come and there was no place to park them,” Shanthala told Express.

She waited for a few minutes, hoping some cars would be moved. But when nothing happened, she started taking pictures, meaning to posting them on the Bangalore traffic police Facebook wall. That is when things got out of hand.

“One of the employees saw me taking pictures and tried to grab my phone. He then punched me in the face and slapped me,” she said.

When Shanthala approached the other showroom employees, they reportedly rebuffed her, saying she was a woman and must have done something wrong for him to punch her.

She had called her husband in the meantime. The manager, who became aware that the police would arrive, assured Shanthala the employee would be fired right away.

By then, Shanthala’s husband arrived with a constable from the Tilak Nagar station.

The constable called the Mico Layout police to the spot, but they tried to dissuade her from filing a complaint. “Instead of hauling up the employee, they asked why I was antagonising him when I had to take the same road every day,” she said.

DCP T D Pawar was unaware of the details of the case. However, ACP Obalesh B N confirmed a case had been registered.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old canteen employee grabbed a woman and tried to kiss her as she was walking out of her office canteen on Wednesday evening.

According to DCP Pawar, the incident took place around 4 pm. “She was walking out of the canteen, when Ismail restrained her and tried to kiss her. 

On hearing her cries, passers-by stopped him and called the Mico Layout police,” Pawar said. The police later arrested Ismail.

Boiling Oil in Flask

In Yeshwantpur, a 21-year-old woman was attacked with boiling oil by an unidentified assailant.

Lavanya, a garment factory employee, was returning home from work, when in Mohan Kumar Nagar, Mathikere, a man took out a flask filled with boiling oil and poured it on her face.

Eyewitnesses said the man had been tailing her and flung the oil when he was close to her. He then fled the scene.

Passers-by who heard her screams rushed her to a private hospital.  She was later shifted to St John’s Hospital.

She sustained severe burns on the right side of her face, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said.

“We suspect a man whose proposal she had spurned. We have identified him and will arrest him shortly,” he told Express.

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