Harassed in public bus, Haryana sisters thrash three eve teasers 01-12-2014
ROHTAK: In a show of courage, two college-going
sisters thrashed three eve teasers inside a bus, even as passengers chose to
look the other way.
Both sisters confronted the accused and mustered enough
courage to thrash them, with one of the girls even hitting the youths with her
belt, for allegedly outraging their modesty.
The entire incident, recorded by a passenger on mobile
phone, went viral both on television and social media. It showed the two girls
using hand and belt to thrash the eve teasers, who appeared to be taken by
surpise.
A case has been registered against three youths in
this connection, police said today. No arrest has, however, been made so far.
The accused have been identified as Kuldeep, Mohit and
Deepak, they said, adding that a case under section 354 (assault or criminal
force with intent to outrage woman's modesty) and section 323 (voluntarily
causing hurt) of IPC have been registered against them.
The victims in their complaint alleged that they were
"teased" by some youths in a Haryana Roadways bus when they were
going to their college on Friday.
When the victims objected, one of the accused started
beating them up. Not go give up easily, the girls fought with the accused as
fellow passengers remained mute spectators. One of the victims even hit the
accused with a belt, police said.
One of the girls said, They threatened us and abused
us. One of them touched my sister inappropriately. They started making obscene
gestures ... After heated exchanges, one of the boys called his friends asking
him to beat us up. One of them beat my sister while two others caught hold of
me.
“Then, I whipped out my belt at thrashed them. They
pushed us out of the bus when it slowed down,” she narrated. Meanwhile, the
father of the two sisters alleged that there was pressure from the panchayat
that the girls should withdraw the complaint.
SP Rohtak Shanshank Anand told PTI over phone, “We
have identified the accused and soon they will be arrested. These are the brave
girls of the country and we fully support them.”
The parents of the two girls lodged an FIR with
Haryana police informing that the molesters got down at the Kansla village in
Rohtak.
Meanwhile, the SHO of Rohtak police station Gajendra
Singh said a complaint had been registered against the accused and added that
the public must take a stand in such cases.
“We have registered complaint against three accused
persons, investigation is going on, the culprits will be arrested. It is
regrettable that nobody came to help the girls, it is our duty to take a stand
in such cases,” he said.
Reacting strongly to the incident, women rights
activist Abha Singh said, "It's an offence under Section 354a. This is a
non-bailable offence. The culprits must be arrested immediately. The people in
bus did not come to the help of the girls. We need to amend the law that those
who don't help the victims of molestation should also be punished.
Commenting on the incident, National Commission for
Women chairperson Lalitha Kumarmangalam said, “I would like to congratulate the
girls and ask the authorities to take appropriate action. Few girls have the
guts to take on the molesters. The government should take action. I would
appeal to every Indian to come forward and help.” |