It’s unhappy Women’s Day as two bikers allege harassment

It wasn’t the best Women’s Day for Sharon Samuel and Priyanka Prasad after they were allegedly harassed on Sunday while heading home from a Women’s Day bike rally. The women bikers said they were harassed by a man and his son on charges of encroaching their property near the Bannerghatta exit on NICE Road.
The incident occurred when the riders reportedly stopped to get water.An elderly man who lived across the street started shouting at them and soon, the man’s son, who claimed to be an advocate, ordered them to leave. In the video shared by the bikers, the man is seen taking the keys from Sharon’s bike and taking pictures of their vehicles.
“For 45 minutes, we stood in the sun. We felt so threatened and helpless. After trying the police control room several times, a Hoysala car came to help us,” Priyanka said in the video.

They shared, “A lot of people take inspiration from us, and now, they’ll think it’s not safe for women to go on the highway. There is no guarantee these men will [not] do this to other women. This is why women don’t ride. It’s not because it’s difficult to handle the bike; it’s the attitude of the people that’s the problem.” The police registered FIRs on the basis of a complaint filed by the women and by the man. “We are going ahead with the proceedings. Now, we are going to submit our statements and video proofs. The FIR has been filed, but he has also filed an FIR, so ours is a counter FIR, as of now. We have not had any discussion with the police after that. Right now, our lawyer is handling everything, because we don’t want to go there every day. It’s stressful. There is a lot of work involved. I wish it was an easier process,” Sharon said.

Meanwhile, the man told reporters that he had not done anything wrong since it was a case of the women encroaching their property and that he had handed over the bike key to the police.