Gritty B'luru woman gets man arrested for flashing at her

A woman from Bengaluru, who had to go through a horrifying experience after a man from her locality flashed at her from a terrace, got the culprit arrested on Wednesday. However, the police let him off with a strict warning on Thursday.

A resident of Koramangala, the woman took to Instagram on Tuesday to post snaps of a man standing on a terrace and flashing at her on November 8.

The man lives just two blocks away from her apartment, and since the houses aren't well spaced out, she got a clear view of the pervert.

"I moved into this apartment one month ago. His house is not very far from mine. He stood there staring at me for an hour, which made me very uncomfortable. The first thought in my head was to not stay silent. The second thought was of fear because he knew which building I was living in. So I yelled at him and used abusive words. Immediately, his pants dropped and he gave me a disgusting smile while he flashed at me," she posted on her Instagram account.

She stated that she threatened to take pictures of him and when she brought out her camera, the pervert pulled up his pants and stood there watching her.

Initially, the woman was sceptical about calling the police and decided to get counsel from women helplines. She tried reaching out to Vanitha Sahayavani, 1091, and National Commission For Women (NCW) but they were not reachable. Finally, she called the police and got the pervert arrested.

In another post, she said that first she informed her landlord about the incident, who advised her to approach the police.

Then, she shared her traumatic experience on social media to ask help from friends, activists, NGOs and lawyers.

Her social media post began with the question - "Is flashing an offence in India?"

She added that while the law is still in a grey area (over such cases), she wanted to raise her voice against the accused and get him punished.

"So I called the police on November 9. From Koramangala police station, I was connected to the Viveknagar police station. The man was identified and arrested. I was also escorted to the station for filing my complaint," she said.

The following day, the police informed the woman that they would have to let off the man with a strict warning. Her next resort was to approach a lawyer but knowing that it would be a long, tedious process, she decided not to put herself through that ordeal.

A senior police officer told IANS that it wouldn't be easy for any single woman to take such a case to a logical end and as a result of this, the police's hands are also tied. "We cannot act on our own unless the victim chooses to take the matter to a logical end," he said.