In yet another shocking incident with striking similarity to the mass molestation of girls on the streets of Bengaluru on New Year's Eve, a mob — mainly consisting of male students, residing in the Mukherjee Nagar area — on Saturday allegedly molested a girl riding pillion on a bike. According to Milind Dumbere, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest), 23 men have been detained in connection with the case.
Ironically, the Delhi Police registered a case under Sections 147 (rioting), 148, 149 of the Indian Penal Code at the Mukherjee Nagar police station on the complaint of the policemen who were attacked by the mob. It was only later Section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the IPC was added in the FIR, said a senior police official.
Almost 1,200-1,500 students have been questioned till now in connection with the incident, police said. The incident happened near Batra Cinema after two men — in yellow and blue jackets, respectively — tried to pull a woman riding pillion of a motorbike being driven by another man, police said. The policemen present on the other side of the divider there cautioned the two men, who appeared drunk, against indulging in hooliganism, police said. The CCTV footage shows the incident occurred between 11 and 11.15 pm on December 31.
"The two men fled after the police intervention. Police tried to explain to a few youths standing there that they should celebrate New Year but not at other's peril. They should not misbehave with women who are passing through the area," said a policeman who was present on the spot.
Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC was added on the basis of the statement given by constable Anil Kaushik, who was also an eyewitness and was injured during stone-pelting.
The incident came to light only after a video went viral of the incident where the police personnel were attacked by the mob consisting of at least 30 youths. Police said at around 12:30 on December 31, a group of youths, preparing for civil service examinations allegedly got into a heated argument with a 21-year-old girl after they allegedly tried to molest her. When the girl raised an alarm, heated arguments followed between the two parties.
A PCR call was made around midnight only when police received information about an unruly mob of revellers making a lot of noise during New Year.
Police had deployed an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV), in the area around 12:15 pm. While she and her friend tried to navigate from the heavy crowd, the women was allegedly sexually assaulted by a group of unidentified persons.
The police personnel who were deputed in the area came to her rescue and later when they managed to free her from the crowd, they bore the brunt of the anger of the revellers as the crowd turned on policemen and attacked them.
"We had been told by the injured policemen that they had tried to save the girl and her friend. They managed to escape but the crowd went on to beat the policemen who then sought shelter in a police chowki in the vicinity," said a senior police officer.
Policemen tried to detain some youths in the area, but this invited the ire of the unruly crowd, who soon started pelting stones and hurled abuses against the police personnel. The policemen who sought shelter inside the police chowki were pelted with stones and the glasses were shattered.
The unruly mob was later dispersed after several forces of Delhi Police arrived at the scene. "We have questioned more than two thousand people in the matter. We also have the video of the incident, which was captured on tape," said the officer.