The young Bengaluru woman, whose assault by two men created a country-wide outrage, was stalked for four or five days by a group of men, four of whom were arrested today.
Two scooter-borne men were caught on security camera when they groped and assaulted the woman near her home here on New Years eve.
The accused had been stalking the victim for four or five days and molested her when she was returning home after celebrating New Year, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Praveen Sood told reporters here, amid growing public anger over delay in nabbing the culprits. Sood said two other accomplices had been identified and they would be arrested soon.
"When we saw the video, it was clear it was a case of molestation. The accused had been stalking the girl for a few days. The night the incident took place, they were partying by the road. When the girl got down from the autorickshaw, one of them identified her. They then followed her near her house and molested her," he said.
"This is a plan prepared by six of them. One of them groped. Others assisted," the Police Commissioner said.
He gave the names of the arrested as Aiyappa, the main culprit who molested the woman and Leno, Sudesh and Somashekar. Aiyappa and Sudesh are delivery boys, Leno was a helper and Somashekhar a driver, Sood said, adding, a bike had been seized from them.
One of the accused lived near the girl’s home and started stalking her.
"They have confessed (to the crime)," he said.
The arrest comes three days after a CCTV footage surfaced showing two scooter-borne two men accost a woman, zoom past her, take a U-turn and halt the vehicle before one of them jumps off, gropes her and escapes even as bystanders watch without coming to her help.
Sood said there was no "friendship or anything except that they stayed close by (to the victims place)."
He said Prashant Francis, a resident of Kammanahalli, came forward with the "gory" video to help police.
Sood said "when we saw the video I felt that I dont have to talk to the victim at all. It was a clear case of molestation and groping and maybe much more. We did not wait, we did not waste time to look for the victim or contact her."
"We suo motu registered the case because what had been shown on the video convinced us beyond all possible doubt that this was a heinous crime."
Sood warned all such "potential violators" that police would not have any mercy on them if such incidents are repeated in future.
Talking about the survivor, he said cops are in touch with survivor. "We have got in touch with her following the arrest of these men, we have got in touch with her. We had to take some time to build confidence and she will cooperating with the investigation," said Sood.
In the footage, one of the two men is first seen approaching the woman, forcing himself on her and dragging her to the scooter while the other person is seated on it, before pinning her down. As she resists and tries to free herself, he pushes her down on the road and both escape from the scene, but not before the victim slaps the one who had grabbed her.
The incident at Kammanahalli here had occurred even as on late December 31 night, several women were molested and groped and lewd remarks passed by miscreants on M G Road and Brigade Road, despite the presence of 1,500 police personnel to control the unruly New Year revellers.
The incident drew flak from many quarters even as Home Minister G Parameshwara stoked a controversy by blaming the youngsters "western ways" for the incidents.
