Uttarakhand Police have arrested four men after a disturbing video was posted on X Wednesday afternoon, showing two women being harassed by a group of men late at night near the Sacred Heart School in Uttarakhand's Haldwani. The police are still searching for others.
The one-minute video appears to have been shot on a mobile phone and shows the vehicle in which the women were travelling first being forced to slow down by a black Mahindra Scorpio in front.
This took place on what seems to be a quiet side street (identified as Mukhani Road in the hill town by Prachi Joshi, who posted the video on X). Then a second car, a Hyundau Nios i20, speeds into view from the right side. Two men are perched on the front doors; only one leg is inside the car as they sit on the doors. The two are shouting abusive comments at the women.
"Just tonight I was coming back with my female friend from a movie and suddenly two cars, full of 10 men, tried to block our way...." Ms Joshi, who shared the video, wrote in the post.
"This happened straight for 25 minutes," she said, detailing the horror that followed.
The black Scorpio (with temporary registration T0724UK4618C) was ahead of us... they tried to stop us from passing by opening their doors. The white Nios i20 (UK-04-AK-1928) was behind blocking us so we couldn't run away. The first time it happened we escaped..."
"The second time they blocked us completely by opening all car doors but luckily a man on a scooter appeared... he tried to pass them which gave us a chance to escape. We somehow managed to run from there but just after few minutes they again tried to do the same (thing)."
Ms Joshi's post also tagged Uttarakhand Police and ripped into them for failing to ensure the safety and security of women, even as the country is up in arms over the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital and claims of sexual assault in the Kerala film industry.
"Is this how peace and security is being maintained in the city? Why is hooliganism increasing in the city," Ms Joshi asked, urging the police to take strict action against the men in the video.
"This is related to the safety and security of the women residing in Haldwani..."
The disturbing video was posted online hours before President Droupadi Murmu's anguished appeal to the nation to ensure the safety and security of women.
She criticised the "obnoxious amnesia" that much of this country develops and which allows women to be harassed, assaulted, and brutalised on a daily basis, and called for introspection and change.
READ | "Amnesia...": President Says Many Rapes Forgotten Since Nirbhaya
"Enough is enough. No civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities," she said, "In 12 years since Nirbhaya (the gangrape and murder of a Delhi woman in 2012), countless rapes have been forgotten..."
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