Not even a week after the New Year's eve mass molestation took place in Bengaluru, which led to debates around victim blaming, a 23-year-old woman wearing a burqa was brutally assaulted in Bengaluru's KG Halli residential area on Friday.
The woman was walking on the road on her way to work early on Friday morning, when she was attacked by a man. He stalked her, grabbed her and pinned her to the ground while she was screaming for help.
The incident was caught on CCTV camera. The woman was staying at a relative's house in HBR Layout and works at a private firm in Koramangala. She was going for her morning shift to work when the attacker grabbed her when she was walking across the empty stretch of Govindpura Layout.
Her screaming alerted the dogs that started barking and alerted residents. The accused escaped and the residents rushed her to Ambedkar Hospital.
She sustained injuries to her tongue and abrasions on her hands. The incident took place at 6.25 am.
She was taken to the KG Halli police station to file a complaint. The relatives of the victim requested the owner of a gas agency, which had a CCTV camera to show them the video. The incident was captured on the CCTV.
"We have collected the footage from the CCTV installed by the owner of the gas agency. The victim is shocked. The search is on for the accused," the KG Halli police said.
The incident that took place early in the morning proves that those who blamed the women on New Year's eve for going out in the night in short clothes to party are mistaken about women's safety in the city.
A burqa-clad woman is as unsafe in the morning as women in short dresses at night.