Bangalore - the world's second largest IT cluster - is considered to be one of the safest cities in the country. However, the flip side of India's Silicon Valley was yet again exposed recently when a woman doctor was stripped on the city's outskirts and a 22-year-old student was molested in a moving car. The shocking incidents created a furore in the ongoing Assembly session with elected representatives cutting across the party lines questioning the credibility of the city police. Last week, a woman doctor working on the outskirts of Bangalore was allegedly stripped by a mob in the presence of the local gram panchayat chief after she allegedly complained about the poor quality of food being served under mid-day meals scheme. Subsequently, a departmental probe was ordered on the same and the gram panchayat forced her to become the prime witness. However, when she denied having made any official complaint on the quality of food, the gram panchayat chief reportedly directed the villagers to take her to task. On July 7, a mob of 100 people barged into the government-run health care centre and dragged her out and stripped her. Her assistant was also manhandled. Though she lodged a complaint with the Nelamangala police, no action has been initiated so far. In a separate incident, a 22-year-old student was allegedly molested in a moving car on July 11. The incident took place when she was returning home with her friend in Frazer Town on Friday night. They were stopped by a six-member gang travelling in another car midway. They allegedly forced her into their car and molested her while a few others kept her friend at bay. The duo was released past midnight. The next day, the victim's friends managed to catch hold of the culprits in the same area and handed them to the police. However, the victim said, the police asked her to tone down her complaint by removing words like "kidnap" and "sexual assault". Though she volunteered to undergo medical tests, police opposed it terming it as a trivial incident. Apparently, the prime accused, Hyder Nasir (28), is the son of a local BSP leader Sheikh Bahadur, for which the police tried to protect him. After the incident was reported in the local media, the government placed the Frazer Town police inspector under suspension and directed the jurisdiction DCP to register the case afresh. Karnataka Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa directed the state government to transfer police officers, who have overstayed their tenure in their particular posts, in Bangalore. "These police officers have godfathers among politicians. Unless we transfer such officers, the government will continue to face such situations," the speaker added.
