The Bannerghatta police on Tuesday arrested three more persons who, along with two others, allegedly sexually harassed a 26-year-old beautician and assaulted her when she resisted their overtures in Mylasandra on Sunday.
The accused have been identified as Punith Kaade, Anush Madan, and Arun, who were on the run soon after the incident. The accused work for a private firm as daily wage employees on a contract basis. The police arrested the prime accused John Richard, 24, and his father Kanikya Swamy, 54, who created a ruckus and threatened the victim with dire consequences after his son was beaten up by the victim’s friend and later arrested.
The victim was walking to a nearby shop at around 5 p.m. in Prabhakar Reddy Layout near Mylasandra, when Richard, in a drunken state, confronted her and passed lewd comments soliciting sexual favours. The accused also stalked her and touched her inappropriately, following which she resisted. Enraged, the accused allegedly assaulted her publicly. The entire incident was caught on a nearby CCTV camera.
The accused was soon joined by his friends who started harassing her. The victim ran towards her house and called her male friend, a gym trainer. The accused followed her and started harassing her at the gate.
By then the male friend arrived and he along with the neighbours chased them. They caught hold of Richard and thrashed him. Richard was later admitted to the hospital and the victim had called the police by then. Kanikya Swamy, a businessman, rushed to the victim’s house, created a ruckus, and threatened her with dire consequences.
Based on the complaint, the police arrested the father-son duo while Richard’s friends who had escaped soon after the incident were tracked and arrested on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, John’s mother, Mary Pushpa, has now filed a counter-complaint. She claims her son was beaten by the gym trainer during the scuffle. The police have taken up the counter-complaint for further investigation.
The victim claimed that the police initially did not register an FIR on Sunday despite her complaint. The police claimed that both parties had come to the station and agreed to return the next day. On Monday, she approached the police again after allegedly receiving fresh threats from John’s parents and filed a complaint.
