Software professionals ‘chased & threatened’ late at night in Bengaluru’s Sarjapur

Team Udayavani, Nov 17, 2023, 10:13 AM IST

Image source: X (Formerly Twitter)

Bengaluru: In a shocking event in the city’s Sarjapur area, a group of software professionals, three of whom were women, faced intimidation late at night while commuting in a car. The incident, involving alleged harassment by unidentified individuals following an accident accusation, surfaced after Srijan R. Shetty, the husband of one of the affected women, shared the ordeal on social media.

He posted on X, “If it wouldn’t have been for her wits (his wife) of calling the cops and then calling us 10 of her friends to immediately join her at her location, the incident could have taken a different turn.

“I have never felt unsafe in Bengaluru – I know my privilege of being a Kannada speaking male – but last Thursday night I felt how unsafe certain parts of the city are post 10 p.m.

“I’ve seen those horrific videos of fake accidents in Sarjapur where hooligans have tried to blackmail people in the car.

“On 8thNovember, my wife offered to drop off some other colleagues (2 females, one male) considering it was hard to get a cab from Sarjapur. Their car was chased down by a bunch of men for a few kilometers – she was smart enough to stop only on the main road and inform the cops as soon as possible.

“The men demanded that they step out of the car – which she didn’t – for alleged damage during the chase. A few tempo drivers hit her car from the backside and joined the man in the green shirt in trying to pressurise people who couldn’t speak Kannada. None of the bystanders helped the three women and a guy in the car.

“This city deserves better than this, we need security and we need it now. Sarjapur has been a hotspot for these incidents and we need to figure out a solution to curb this menace.”

“The cops arrived at the spot in 20 minutes and did their job.

“But we should figure out how to avoid these issues in the first place,” Srijan stated. “The car driver tried to bruise the car from the left multiple times. The tempo driver was one who later bumped her car from behind and joined the car driver harassing her,” he stated.

Srijan has stated that he would want to take the matter up with the police after Deepavali festival.“Again, this is not to blame any government. This has been happening for a few years and we need to just ensure lightning, infrastructure and patrolling to make the situation better,” he said.

Wanted to mention some important points: The police arrived within 15m and was able to help my wife and her colleges. They ensured she and everyone in the car felt safe. Really grateful for @blrcitytraffic and @BlrCityPolice who acted swiftly.

We have been in touch with the…

— Srijan R Shetty (@srijanshetty) November 16, 2023