Apathy and negligence on part of the Jeevan Bhima Nagar police have now left a 23-year-old Bengaluru techie, who was allegedly sexually assaulted twice on the same night, scared and helpless.
Despite the assault and multiple injuries that the survivor sustained, the police allegedly did not register an FIR because they were "busy with election duty".
At around 12.00 am on 9 May, Sushma*, the owner of a digital marketing and website developing company near HAL, had gone out for dinner at a restaurant on 80 ft road with her boyfriend.
The couple was walking out of Hotel Empire towards their parked two-wheeler, when they were allegedly attacked by four miscreants.
As there were several people outside the restaurant, they gathered around the four men and rescued Sushma. “The people shooed the men away and as a huge crowd had gathered by then, they were also scared. The man who punched me said that he would ensure my destruction. He also hurled abuses at me and my girlfriend before leaving,” Sunil adds.
Sunil and Sushma then rushed to Jeevan Bhima Nagar police station to file a complaint. According to Sunil, there were two constables at the station, but they allegedly refused to register an FIR.
The couple left and were riding home when a gang of eight men intercepted them near HAL main road. Sunil says that the men had knives, cement sheets and bricks in their hands and threatened to harm them if they did not let go off their possessions.
“I gave them all the money I had and then they asked us to get off the bike. Since they had knives, we got down. I told my girlfriend to run while I distracted the men. She began running but there were too many of them. One of them threw a brick on my head and when I fell down, three men held me down. My girlfriend was running away and they threw a brick on her. It hit her back,” Sunil recounts.
“Shushma fell down once again and the four men descended on her. She was struggling and trying to get away. She got away from the men somehow and was about to run when one of them hit her ankle with the cement sheet once more. She fell down and they began groping her and tearing at her clothes. At this point I too managed to get free and began beating the men. Sushma was covered in blood. Luckily, two men were coming towards us on a bike and they stopped to see what was going on. They immediately called the police. The gang of attackers then ran away as they were scared of being apprehended,” Sunil alleges.
Within minutes, two beat constables from HAL police station arrived at the spot, according to Sunil. Sunil then found that the gang had earlier tried to attack a cab driver, who had gone to fetch the police.
However, the police allegedly dismissed Sunil's request and told him to come back in the morning. Sunil says that he pleaded with the constables to help them but they allegedly told him to go to the Jeevan Bhima Nagar police station instead.
Feeling helpless and distraught, Sunil returned to the hospital where Sushma was being treated. According to sources in the hospital, Sushma had sustained a fracture to her left ankle and right knee. She has sustained severe bruises on her thighs and also on her hip.
“She also has lacerations on her elbows and the skin on both her palms has been scraped off,” the source added.
Sunil has sustained a wound on his head and a stab wound on his right arm.
Despite several attempts to contact the Commissioner of Police, Sunil was unsuccessful. He then wrote a lengthy Facebook post, which caught the attention of the media.
Finally, on 16 May, a Sub Inspector from the Jeevan Bhima Nagar police station allegedly called Sunil and asked him about the incident. Sunil once again sent the pictures he had on WhatsApp to the SI. Later that day, DGP Anand Tewari called Sunil to take stock of the situation.
A case was finally registered on 16 May under sections 354A (sexual assault), 398 (assault with a deadly weapon) and 34 (common intention) against the unidentified persons.
Sushma is now recuperating at her hometown in Bihar.
When TNM contacted the Jeevan Bhima Nagar police station, the officer on duty, who refused to divulge his name, dismissed the incident by once again stating that on that night (9 May), there was a shortage of staff as many of them had been deployed for election duty.
TNM tried contacting DGP Anand Tewari but could not reach him.
However, Additional Commissioner of Police (East), Seemant Kumar Singh said that the incident had been brought to his notice on Monday and that the incident is being probed.
“We will ensure that action is taken if negligence is proven. Every police officer on duty has to register FIRs if there are crimes committed under their jurisdiction. There is no excuse. They cannot say election duty and not do their job,” he added.
*Name changed to protect identity
(This storu was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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