The New Year’s eve on Saturday witnessed chaos on the streets of Bengaluru, reported Bangalore Mirror. The city’s MG Road and Brigade Road saw women getting molested, children getting scared, as male friends and relatives had a tough time protecting them from unruly men. This was despite the city’s “elaborate” security measures under which 1,500 policemen had been deployed in the area.
In addition to the entire city police force, men from reserve battalions were also deployed on the city streets to maintain law and order during New Year’s Eve celebrations, claimed former city police commissioner NS Megharikh, who was in charge of the night’s security measures in the city.
However, none of these arrangements were of any help to the women who became easy targets for drunk hooligans, forcing some of them to literally take off their heeled shoes and run for help. Being terribly outnumbered on the streets surrounded by thousands of revellers, the cops could intervene only in certain situations depending on how bad it was.
Not a single case of molestation or harassment has been registered despite photographic evidence and eyewitness accounts.
Sandeep Patil former deputy commissioner (central) of the city, under whose purview Brigade Road and MG Road fall, told Bangalore Mirror that a number of women did approach the cops seeking help when they got separated from their family members and friends. “So we used our public address systems to locate and our men ensured they faced no hardship,” he said.
This was in contradiction to what some of the other police personnel deployed on the streets had to say. A woman police officer deployed on Church Street had to chase away a couple of men trying to molest and strip a drunk woman. “It is very disturbing to see women caught in such helpless situation,” she told Mirror.
Ajai Kumar Singh, retired director-general of police told the daily, “It has been the case since the 70s. Handling the New Year crowd in Bengaluru is very difficult, but that means the police department should have a clear plan and be well-prepared to ensure there are no major incidents.”
Source: dnaindia.com