Mangaluru: 24-year-old woman alleges sexual harassment on city bus, Instagram post goes viral
Here’s what the victim, police officials told Vartha Bharati
Mangaluru: A 24-year-old woman on Thursday evening took to her Instagram account alleging sexual harassment by a co-passenger on a city bus in Mangaluru. The post has now gone viral and has received wide public response who have come forward and have spoken against such criminal behavior by co-passengers on city buses here.
The victim was on her way from Konaje towards Pumpwell on Thursday, 14 January when an unidentified man boarded the bus in which she was traveling and sat next to her even as there were other vacant seats on the bus.
According to the woman, the man who boarded the bus from a bus stop near KS Hedge Hospital started touching her inappropriately. Irked by his behavior, she confronted the man, following which he apologized and switched his seat before getting down from the bus.
“After he got down from the bus, I felt relieved as well as disgusted with other passengers who witnessed my confrontation and chose to remain silent even as I shouted at the offender,” the victim told Vartha Bharati over a phone call.
What shocked her was, seeing the offender boarding the bus again after a couple of stops and coming back to sitting next to her, she added in the post.
She told Vartha Bharati that the offender started behaving inadequately again and sexually harassed her by touching her inappropriately.
“That’s when I decided I was not going to take it lightly. As I approached my stop i.e. Pumpwell, I once again shouted at him and clicked his picture while also warning him of posting his picture across social media platforms. To my surprise, that person took off his mask and posed for the picture on my phone, and when I clicked his picture he thanked me for clicking the picture” she further informed Vartha Bharati.
“When I was about to get down on my station, out of frustration and to teach him a lesson, I once again shouted at him and also kicked him while expecting support or reaction from other passengers or the bus conductor. But nobody turned up for my help, they were being mere spectators of what they perhaps thought was the drama” she added.
On being asked if she plans to take legal measures against the offender, she said she has already filed a complaint at Mangaluru Women Police Station and has received an NC for it.
“I don’t want to get someone arrested. It is not about one person. Several women and men too are being harassed like this on buses in the city. I want to create awareness and want people to talk about it and seek help. In most cases, the victims don’t talk about it for various reasons. I want them to talk about it and respond. Arresting one person will not help, nor will silently bearing such behaviors help” she added.
The Instagram post was well received by social media users and in no time has grossed nearly 65K likes at the time of publishing of this report. Hundreds of users have also shared their views in the comment section of the post and several others have lauded her for being gutsy enough to talk about what she went through.
Users were also of the opinion that several women go through the same every day but choose to remain silent which in return encourages the offenders to continue such behaviors as they go unchecked.
Women Police Station PSI Rosamma however confirmed that no FIR was filed in the case, as the victim had not filed a written complaint or had sought filing of FIR against any unidentified person. But she added the department was mulling to run awareness campaigns in this regard. She also added that several campaigns were initiated earlier, but were forced down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year.
Rosamma, while talking to Vartha Bharati also stressed that women need to talk about any such harassment or inadequate behavior by co-passengers on public transport and has assured immediate action on incidents that are reported.
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Lokayukta searches govt officials in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Lokayukta officials on Tuesday conducted searches on properties belonging to government officials in various parts of the state, on the suspicion that they have possessed assets disproportionate to their income, official sources said.
The searches and verification of documents are on against at least four officials from Shivamogga, Mandya, Dharwad and Vijayanagara districts, the sources added.
Those being searched include a Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation official in Shivamogga and a health department official in Vijayanagara district.
