CRIME

S K Nataraj is Mayor and corporator of Sarakki ward. Even as he plans to visit each and every ward in order to understand their problems, citizens are pointing to issues in his own ward that need attention. Pic: Chetan Boray. Sarakki ward includes 6th phase JP Nagar, a BDA-planned area, which is supposed to have basic facilities available to its residents when compared to revenue sites. But citizens here continue for suffer from inadequate piped water supply. Resident Anand Rao, in his late fifties, says that BWSSB officials point out that the line is at a higher point and…

PC, a member of Forward150 has shared his experience.As mentioned by my friend, yesterday I was chased by two persons on a bike and stopped near SJR Variety (Few meters from HM Symphony gate). They started speaking in Kannada and I told them to speak in Hindi. They told me that I had hit a person and need to come out and have a look at the person and solve the problem, I replied I am sure I have not hit any one and if you have any complaint we can go to police station. They insisted I come out…

Recently a certain type of vehicle mugging cases is on the rise. They seem to be targeting IT employees specifically.The areas that have been targeted are around Iblur junction, between Iblur and Marathahalli, or Iblur to Kaikondrahalli or Kaikondrahalli to Wipro.  Timings is usually between 11 am to 4 pm. The offenders are riding a black Pulsar.  They are two or three of them. The vehicle has a kannada registration number plate. Identification marks: One person is stout and has a dark complexion. Another one is lean with medium complexion.MODUS OPERANDI They stop your vehicle on a pretext, saying that…

Past few weeks have seen a few incidents of mugging near Outer Ring Road/Sarjapur Road area.In mid-May, a resident of Sun City apartments and employee at a tech firm located on ORR was stopped by two men, accusing him of causing an accident. The person threatened tried to reason with them, and later using some pretext, drove into his office nearby. He left his car there, and enlisted the help of his company HR department, who helped him get home.  Earlier, there was a more serious and similar incident: a resident was forced to stop his car by two men…

For a long time, I had been wanting to participate in the campaign against street sexual harassment (aka eve teasing) by Blank Noise. Finally, last Sunday (Aug-5) afternoon I joined the fortnightly action - this time on Church Street and Brigade Road from 3 - 5 pm. 5 of us reached out to around 150 pedestrians from different age, occupational and socio-economic backgrounds while displaying wall and hand held posters in English and Kannada. Some roadside vendors helped us enthusiastically while 4-5 male/female police personnel, taxi drivers and building security guards agreed with the prevalence of the issue and the message…

  Women with courage, strength and patience. Supporting their children and each other. Speaking out against violence at home and outside. Despite the pain of abuse and the threat of ostracization and backlash. In India, Cameroon, China, Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere. Portrayed through the lens of sensitive and concerned artists. In the women's own voices and others'. This was Daughters of Fire, a festival of films and discussions on violence against women and women's resistance to it. Last weekend, Vimochana and the Asian Women and Human Rights Council in collaboration with the Bangalore Film Society and Alliance Francaise de Bangalore organized…

A list of the most sought after locations in Bengaluru would be incomplete without Koramangala. While on the one hand it offers various residential options for a growing city, it is also home to long time residents and their posh bungalows with lush green gardens. But now there’s an unsavoury element to this area. For the past few weeks, some of the residents in Koramangala have been complaining of an unusual series of incidents. “Two people, Nagaraja Reddy and his associate Raja, are introducing themselves as professional gardeners on contract with the BBMP. They induce residents to get manure from…

Moodbidri, Feb 19, 2009. Moral police attack a 15 year old girl, Ashwini Moole. Her crime: Talking to a Muslim male friend. The girl commits suicide.  Bangalore, Feb 24, 2009, time: 9.30pm, Lakshmi who was walking on the road is roughed up by four men who later try to pull her out of an auto as she attempts to escape.  Bangalore Feb 28, 3009. Journalist Sanjana, whose bike broke down, was hailing an auto at 10:30 p.m. when two men on a bike punch her. What does our Bangalore Police Commissioner have to say about these incidents? ‘Bangaloreans are cultured.…

Ulsoor, Indiranagar, Vasanthnagar and Rest House Road! Six incidents of attacks on women in Bengaluru reported in the media in the last 20 days. The attackers in all the cases were either a pair of men on bikes or in groups of four in cars. In most cases, the women were in jeans or western clothing but in one of the cases, a woman attired in Salwar Kameez was also subject to attack. In the cases where the women retaliated by slapping the attackers, the latter became further infuriated and became more violent. In fact, in the incident at Indiranagar,…

I regularly visit this lady cobbler in J P Nagar 3rd Phase:I am always impressed by her cheerful, smiling demeanour,and struck up a long conversation with her today. Her name is Mariamma, and she hails from a village near Tiruvannamalai.She says she has four  children. "They are all grown up, and are working," she says. Her husband passed away a few years ago. Though there is usually a stigma attached to the profession of a cobbler, she did not let this deter her, and plies her trade happily. She says her little stall keeps her occupied, and keeps her from…