Caught On Cam: Bengaluru Woman Groped, But Says Couldn't File FIR

A Bengaluru woman alleged that she was groped by a man while she was entering her house. She posted a video of the man confessing his crime on camera. She even called the police on the site to get him arrested. But she didn't file an FIR and the man was allowed to go. Do you know why? Because laws in our Constitution somehow benefit the accused more than the survivors.

“Last night in #NammaBengaluru a friend of mine dropped me near my house and as I was about to open the gate, this man came and groped me from behind and started running. I called my friend and asked him to stop him before he rode away,” the woman wrote on X.

How did the accused confess his crime?

In the video  that the woman shared, the man is hiding his face and confessing his crime. The woman alleged that the man was neither drunk nor a child. He was, the woman said, waiting for a chance to get her. 

"In this video, the man is accepting what he had done. My friend was there to catch hold of him and had it not been the case, we never know what all could have happened and he would have not been caught. We called the Bangalore Police on site and he was taken to jail," the woman wrote.

Why didn't the woman file an FIR? 

However, the woman further added that she didn't file an FIR against him as she would have been charged for "injuring him in self-defence". Because of no FIR, the man was set free.

"The laws in our Constitution are more focused on safeguarding such animals and had I injured him significantly in self defence, I would be charged much more. What a shame, right?" She further added, "The reason behind posting this is spreading awareness and how there are loopholes in the Constitution that would anyway get him out." 

Street harassment is very common in our society. Even female police constables are harassed on the street. How can common women be safe? But what is the reaction of the society towards these crimes? Fight back. But how? 

Everyone suggests women to be careful, to turn back and hit the accused or not step out after a particular time in the evening. But does anyone tell anything to the people who commit the assault? "Men will be men" is the answer most of the time.

How it is difficult for women in our society to fight against sexualo crimes? 

Being a woman who has faced assault, let me say that it is not easy to fight back. When you get assaulted, it takes time to realise the horror that just happened to you. The incident stays with you throughout your life taunting you for being a woman. Now, if you decide to fight back and file a complaint, the fight of getting proper evidence and getting your family's support will exhaust you to the limit that every cell in you asks you to quit.

Not always a woman can be so aware as to catch hold of the accused and record a video. Most of the time, the only evidence in sexual assault cases is the experiences of the survivor which are very easily dismissed as fake. Moreover, families dismiss these experiences as something that happens to every woman and that women should learn to forget and move on. Even if crossing all these obstacles, a woman manages to reach the court, the  character assassination within the courtroom and in society catches her off guard. Who will protect her from the systemised shaming and blaming? 

In cases of sexual assault, the woman has to fight not only against the accused but also the entire society and system. She is left alone to try to question the norm that dictates that women should silently bear the men who 'lose control'. 

But enough is enough. Society and the system need to be more sensitised towards sexual assault cases. Women are not trash cans for the 'loose' behaviour of men. Educate your men to mind their hands and if they can't don't let them step out. It is high time now that we stop dealing with sexual assault cases by controlling women rather than the accused. 

Views expressed are the author's own.