Billionaire Elon Musk has raised concern on women being punched randomly by strangers in New York City. The Tesla CEO was reacting to a video Halley Kate, a TikTok user, who uploaded a video on Monday following one of the assaults currently under investigation by New York Police. In the video, Ms Kate, with 1.1 million followers on TikTok, she was walking when a "man came up and punched me in the face". Many other women have shared similar stories of being unexpectedly punched while walking.
"Failure to prosecute crime in New York (and many other US cities) allows violent criminals to assault women at will! The governor had to call out the national guard just so people could ride the subway," Mr Musk said while commenting on Ms Kate's video.
Several users agreed with Mr Musk's statement and said there is a need for harsh punishment for such crimes. But some users shared similar videos from other cities in the world.
In the clip, Ms Kate did not provide specific details about the time or location of the purported incident. However, some news outlets said her video seemed to have been filmed on 7th Avenue, situated between West 15th and 16th streets in Chelsea.
In other videos, she mentioned contacting the police and showed herself applying ice to a sizable bump resembling a "devil horn" on her head.
As her video gained traction, another TikTok user Mikayla Toninato shared a similar narrative.
"I was literally like leaving class, I turned the corner and I was looking down and I was looking at my phone, and like texting, and then, out of nowhere, this man just came up and hit me in the face," she said.
On March 17, another woman named Oliva Brand shared she faced a similar incident.
The police are investigating the incidents, but are yet to issue statements on whether these were linked.
