Woman assaulted for stealing sarees; three assailants held: Cops

A silk saree trader and two others were arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman accused of stealing sarees from their shop.

A trader of silk sarees and two others have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman who allegedly stole silk sarees from the accused’s shop on September 21, police said, adding that the woman was also earlier taken into custody.

Clips of the assault that took place in Bengaluru surfaced on social media and prompted a sharp public backlash. (Representational image)

According to police, the woman, originally hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was captured in the act of stealing more than 50 silk sarees from 44-year-old accused Umed Kumar’s store in Chikkapet’s Avenue Road by CCTV footage on September 21. Kumar shared the footage among other traders in the market to warn them about the woman, said police.

On Wednesday, Kumar and his associate, Mahendra Seervi, 25, spotted the woman in the market and allegedly assaulted her, police said, before handing her over to them. She was arrested and consequently charged with theft under relevant sections of the BNS, said police.

Clips of the assault surfaced on social media and prompted a sharp public backlash, which led police to arrest Kumar, Seervi and a third woman participant in the assault, identified as 55-year-old Hampamma, on Thursday.A court on Friday remanded both men to judicial custody at Parappana Agrahara Jail for 14 days, police said, adding that they were charged under sections 74 (use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult a woman’s modesty) and 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace).