Bengaluru Woman's Attack Was Filmed. Today, 4 Arrested

Bengaluru:

A young Bengaluru woman whose assault by two men was filmed on security cameras was likely stalked for more than a week by the attackers, said police sources to NDTV today, after they arrested four men on charges that include sexual harassment, assaulting a woman to disrobe her, and wrongfully restraining her.

The chilling video of the young woman's ordeal has incited national anger at a time when Bengaluru has been shamed over a group of women being molested at a public gathering in the heart of the IT hub on New Year's Eve.

The same night, in a separate incident, a young woman walking home was approached by two men on a scooter. Alarmed, she tried to side-step them, but one man disembarked and attacked her. As she fought back, he pushed her towards the other man.  For minutes, he molested her, and then threw her hard to the ground.  The video - recorded by security cameras at a house nearby in East Bengaluru- shows a group of people watching the assault without intervening.

The police said yesterday that though the young woman has not approached them, they have filed a case and launched an investigation to identify the criminals who forced themselves on the woman.  "One of the suspects might be working in an establishment that the woman visited often," said a police source to NDTV asking not to be identified. He said that attempts are being made to locate the woman.

On January 1, photographs in the Bangalore Mirror showed women being molested and stalked in the heart of the city on New Year's Eve at a street party on the famous MG Road. There, too, nobody tried to stop the drunk men who chased the women, some of them breaking down on camera in what used to be considered one of the country's safest cities for women. Four men have been arrested today after the police examined footage from nearly 45 security cameras in the area.