BENGALURU: Police have intensified their search for the man who molested a woman just half a kilometre from a private university in Suddaguntepalya, southeast Bengaluru, in the early hours of April 3.
Meanwhile, the woman and her friend, who was with her when the incident took place, have objected to a video clip of the assault being uploaded online.
Visuals of the man harassing the woman and her friend while they were walking on I Cross, Bharathi Layout, around 1.52am were captured on a nearby CCTV camera. The footage went viral on social media Sunday.
According to police, they managed to trace the two women, who started objecting to the footage being shared online. They didn't reveal many details about themselves or the miscreant.
The women, in fact, told police they didn't want to file a complaint or give any statement. They said they had stepped out to have green tea and were returning home when one of them was assaulted. They are from another state and have been staying in the city for over a year.
According to police, the CCTV footage was shared by Lokesh Gowda, 55, a businessman who stays in the same area. Gowda told police that one of his neighbours had heard a woman screaming one night.
The following day, they checked the CCTV footage from the house of Ashok Reddy, who lives on the same stretch, and found that visuals of the incident had been captured.
A man was seen following two women walking on the road and molesting one of them before escaping. He didn't harass the other woman. The women later continued to walk towards their home.
Reddy shared the footage with Gowda, who then posted it on social media. After the video went viral, Gowda deleted the footage. Police took a complaint from Gowda Sunday afternoon.
A senior officer said they had analysed footage from about 400 CCTV cameras by Monday evening in an effort to nab the molester. Later in the day, an officer said they have convinced the women to co-operate with the probe.
Cops to increase patrollingA senior officer said night-beat police from Suddaguntepalya station were patrolling the area on the intervening night of April 2 and 3, but this incident happened on a lane where cops weren't present. But from Monday, patrolling will be increased on such lanes, the officer added. A case has been registered under BNS Sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 75 (sexual harassment), and 78 (stalking).
(With inputs from Tanushri Menon & Shreya Jorapur)