Eve-teasing gaining serious proportions in city.

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru : As per reports, a research student, walking to her PG accommodation  was waylaid by a youth on a two-wheeler and audaciously groped.  It was around 8.30pm. It took a few seconds for Rachna to recover from the shock, but not before she noted down the number of the vehicle and filed a complaint.

The education hub of Karnataka which is grappling with the rise in cases of moral vigilantism is now witnessing a spike in cases of groping, flashing and eve-teasing. These are increasing in areas which house educational institutions, PG accommodation for girls and hostels.

Police say such cases are on the rise in areas like Kodialbail, Bendorwell, Balmatta and MG Road. These cases are registered as petty cases and miscreants are let off with a warning, but nothing much is being done to stop the menace. Barke police station officials said they arrested the youth who groped the research student. The incident occurred at Kodialguttu. Based on the complaint, police registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).

In the course of the investigation, they found that the offender was allegedly using someone else’s vehicle. "When we traced the vehicle number, we found it belonged to a businessman from Moodbidri who was not involved in the incident. The miscreant might have used the same vehicle number thus ensuring that he is untraceable," said a police officer.

"The law is often toothless when it comes to dealing with such cases. It’s not a section that is clearly defined," rued the police officer. In most such cases, the offender easily gets away with a bail. Eve-teasing is not defined as an offence in any law in India. But such behaviour is punishable under the IPC and the legal remedy available to the victim is lodging a complaint with police or magistrate.

In another incident under the same police station jurisdiction, a person was arrested for flashing at a college student in Kodialbail. "Several such incidents occur near educational institutions. We register them as petty cases and warn the miscreants," he added. Another police officer points out that not too many girls are willing to come forward and register a complaint due to fear and peer pressure.