A 26-year-old sculptor, artist and drag king was attacked in Goa on 31 May while on her way to a petrol pump on her bike.
The accused, a 49-year-old man, was riding his bike while speaking on the phone when he allegedly almost rammed into the artist. Upon asking him to get off his bike, she was met with abuse. So she ignored him and drove away.
However, she alleges that even after she had moved away, the man continued to stalk her.
“I did not want to engage so I drove away. He stalked me and cornered my bike and stopped his bike in front of mine such that I had to stop. He proceeded to remove my bike keys and threw them away and then started to hit my bike and intimidate me. I was not scared, I looked straight into his eyes without fear. He then proceeded to grab my crotch and threw my phone and said, ‘What will you do now?’. That is when I had had it. I couldn’t let someone molest me, I gave him a tight slap and what happened after that you saw in the video.”The artist wrote on her social media profile
A bystander shot a video of the incident and urged her to report the matter to the police.
“I went to the Saligao police station and showed the cops the video. To my surprise the man who assaulted and molested me, showed up at the police station complaining that I had hit him and ripped his clothes. I defended myself with pride. In that moment I wasn’t scared, not because I am strong and not because I had the ability to tackle someone three times my size, but only because the sad truth is this is not the worst that’s happened to me.”The artist wrote on her social media profile
She claims that the man molested her in front of the police at the police station too.
“Even though the cops at the Saligao police station were helpful and seemed to be on my side, while I was giving my statement the man touched his chest while looking at my low cut gorgeous dress which is very flattering to my breasts and said ‘Very nice Very nice!’ in front of the cops and proceeded to grab his crotch and shook it while saying, ‘Take my cock.’ All this in front of the police and the police had to remain neutral. What he did even in the police station is sexual abuse.”The artist wrote on her social media profile
An FIR has been filed by the Goa Police under Sections 354, 354D, 504, 341, 323 of the IPC.
According to her social media post, the man is out on bail. She has started a social media campaign with the hashtag #StandUpForYourself to get justice.
(This is a developing story. It will be updated as and when we get more information)
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