The Congress government in Karnataka has been embroiled in one controversy after another. Just months into its tenure, the Deputy Chief Minister admitted before MPs that the state was unable to fund development projects due to the financial burden of its fiscally reckless freebie schemes. The government was soon hit by a string of land scam allegations, along with mounting public anger over repeated tax hikes and soaring prices of essential goods. Now, a fresh controversy has erupted after the Home Minister appeared to trivialise the broad daylight molestation of a woman in Bengaluru, flippantly remarking that such incidents “tend to happen in big cities” — a comment uncannily reminiscent of a dismissive Bollywood dialogue from a Shah Rukh Khan film: “Bade bade shehron mein chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain.”
Incidentally, on Monday, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara gave a contentious reply to a query on the Bengaluru molestation incident. Reacting to the criminal act, the Karnataka Minister said incidents like these tend to happen in a big city like Bengaluru.
He, however, tried to undo the damage assuring that legal action would be taken against the molester, but the flippant remarks have stirred a fresh controversy as it trivialises the issue of molestation and incidences of crime against women, as well as the crumbling law and order situation in the state.
G Parameshwara said, “Incidents like these tend to happen here and there in a big city like this. Whatever legal action needs to be taken will be done in accordance with the law. I have also instructed our commissioner to increase beat patrolling.”
For those unversed, last week a CCTV footage went viral on social media in which a man was seen charging towards a woman on a street at Bharati Layout in Suddaguntepalya and molesting her, before fleeing from the crime scene. The incident pertains to the early hours of 3rd April.
As per the visuals in the viral video, a man charged towards two women who were walking in a narrow lane. He then pushed one of them against a wall. He then groped the victim and touched her inappropriately before running away.
The two women walked away from the area but they were visibly startled by the molestation incident.
After the incident sparked outrage on social media, the Bengaluru police registered a suo motu case as the victim is yet to file a complaint. The Police have lodged a case under Section 354B (assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe a woman).
Incidentally, a similar incident was caught on camera in August last year. A woman was groped by a man in Bengaluru’s Konanakunte area while she was out for a morning walk. The accused, a cab driver, was arrested two days later.
According to official data released by the government last year, Bengaluru witnessed a sharp increase in crime against women in 2023, with police registering 3,260 cases, including 1,135 related to molestation.
