Bengaluru police has arrested a 22-year-old youngster for stalking and misbehaving with two girls, including a minor, on Wednesday.
Manikantha, a mason reported to be a drug addict, accosted the two girls in separate incidents, asking them to “hug him” on Tuesday. On the same day, the two girls filed a police complaint against him.
While Manikantha, a resident of Muneshwara block in Vyalikaval, misbehaved with the college girl in the morning, near Sadashivnagar. Later in the evening, while he was riding his bike, he accosted the school girl who was on her way back home from school.
Though passersby thrashed him after the school girl raised an alarm, Manikantha managed to escape before the police reached the spot. He had, however, abandoned his bike at the spot.
According to reports, the police nabbed him based on the witness accounts and the vehicle number as seen in a CCTV footage.
He has been booked under POCSO Act and Section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code (outraging modesty of woman) and the complainants have reportedly identified Manikantha. He is said to have frequently harassed women on the streets.
The news of the alleged mass molestation, on the night of 31 December in the city, has paved way for many other instances of molestation being reported from across the city. As on 7 January, Bengaluru City Police registered seven cases of molestation.
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