BENGALURU: The removal of illegal structures inside the KR Market may come as a huge relief to visitors to the market.
According to police officials, anti-social elements used to take advantage of the crowd inside the congested market to harass women and children. Some perverts would even verbally abuse women. When Express visited the market during the operation on Saturday night, a BBMP official said there had been numerous complaints about eveteasing of teenagers coming to the market where there was a crowd since it is festival season.
City Market police said theft of mobile phones was high during festival season. A policeman said, “More than 100 people lost their mobile phones when they visited the market to buy things for Varamahalakshmi festival. We felt bad to see people crying and coming to lodge complaint.”
A top police official said a few eveteasing complaints had been registered. As the passages in the market are narrow, some miscreants used to verbally harass women. A woman BBMP official who had gone to buy flowers was verbally abused by a flower vendor when she asked him about the poor quality of flowers. The woman could not hold back her tears when she came to the police station, he added.
The official added that women used to fear going to the market in the early hours and late evening. Though no complaints were registered, many people had orally complained to the police. Beat policing was also increased in the vicinity of the markt during evening hours, the officer said.