Karwar (Karnataka), Dec 31 An incident of a youth allegedly indulging in sexual harassment of a young woman passenger on a moving bus was reported on Wednesday from Karwar district in Karnataka.
The victim recorded a video related to the incident and appealed to women and girls not to remain silent when they face similar experiences, urging them to raise their voices and stand up for themselves.
The 2.44-minute video recorded by the victim has gone viral on social media and has garnered widespread appreciation for her courage. She also tagged the police in the video. Following this, Ankola police registered a complaint, and Superintendent of Police M.N. Deepan said action would be taken against the youth based on the video.
In the video, the victim states, “I was travelling to Ankola. My brother was with me. He wanted a window seat, so he moved and sat beside the window. It was a three-seater, and the seat next to me was empty. A youth came and sat beside me. He appeared to be around 28 years old.”
She said she could not ask him to sit elsewhere as it was a government bus. “I was asleep. When I woke up, I saw the man’s hand placed on my chest. I was shocked and started shivering. I did not know how to react at first. Then I gathered some courage and scolded him, asking whether he comes to buses for such purposes,” she said.
“Even after scolding him, he did not move and continued to sit beside me. I scolded him again and pushed him out of the seat. I then felt I should not spare him. When the bus stopped, the accused tried to cover his face and get down from the bus,” she added.
“I recorded a video and hit him on the head. At that point, he started claiming that he had done nothing. I wanted the video to reach his family members. His act should be known to his father, sisters, and other family members,” she stressed.
Appealing to women and girls, she said, “If boys misbehave with you, do not remain silent. You must stand up for yourself, no matter who supports you or not. Shout for help and ensure their dirty acts are exposed. Do not keep quiet for any reason.”
“These people will realise the pain only if their own family members go through the same trauma. They enjoy doing the same to other women,” she said.
In the video, she is also seen warning the accused while recording and confronting him, saying it was first and last warning for him and that he would face consequences if he repeated such behaviour. She is also seen asking him to show his face to the camera as he attempts to cover it with his bag while getting down from the bus.
Further investigation is under way.
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