Woman molested, thrown out of car

But cops in the same police station differ on the caseu00a0-- while one inspector says an attempt to rape case has been registered, other denies it

It was a nightmarish experience for Soumya (name changed) who was allegedly molested when she hitched
a ride.


Case to case: Officers at the Kalasipalya police station are divided over
the case. Pic/Manjunath L hanji

Soumya was returning from her daughter's house in Hebbal, and was waiting for the bus stop at 8.30 pm. After waiting for 30 minutes, an SUV stopped at the bus stand, and she saw Das, who she had known for long, sitting next to the driver. Das offered her a lift, but Soumya was reluctant, because she saw three people in the back of the car. But Das persisted, and Soumya got in.

Wolves in disguise
After they had just driven a kilometre, Das and his friends, who were apparently drunk, started making sexual suggestions to her. After she rejected their advances, Das's friends tried to get physical. But after Soumya's loud protests, her attackers got angry, and started beating her. They hurt her until she was unconscious. This scared them, and they threw her out of the moving car near Annapurna Hotel at Pradeep Circle.u00a0 The gathered crowd informed the police, who arrived and shifted her to Vani Vilas Hospital.

When MiD DAY went to the Kalasipalya police station, we heard different version of the story. While inspector Bhaskar Okkaliga said that an attempt to rape case has been registered, station in charge inspector K Vasudeviah said that no case had been filed because no one had come forward to complain.

Adding to the confusion, PSI CA Siddalingaih denied that there was any attempt to rape. He claimed that Soumya's injuries were because of a family quarrel. But he had no answer when we asked him why the men had taken her in their vehicle and then later thrown her out.

Soumya's condition is normal, but she still has to undergo a medical checkup. The hospital authorities didn't allow us to talk to her.