Melina

Bannerghatta Road

Thirty-year-oldhad delivered her first baby on January 14 at a reputed private hospital onThough it was a normal delivery, the baby was premature. Since the baby’s condition was critical, the child was kept under observation in the NICU ward. Melina, however, returned to their home in BTM Layout, but visited daily with her husband, James, to feed the newborn and spend time with the child.Around 10 am on February 17, the couple were headed for their daily ritual with the baby. While passing in front of Kalyani wedding hall, an auto driver reportedly cut from the extreme right and banged their car on the left. James got out of the car to check the damage and asked the driver to stop too. While James was talking to the auto driver, a few local goons gathered and started interfering. Melina was seated inside all the while.“I told the goons not to interfere as the matter did not concern them. But the six of them refused to budge and, suddenly, a youth clad in an orange shirt hit me. When I turned to hit back, two of his friends held me and pulled me to the ground,” James, a software engineer, told Bangalore Mirror.James says Melina immediately stepped out to rescue him. “The same youth then brutally kicked her in the abdomen. Unable to bear the pain, especially because she is still recovering from the delivery, my wife crumpled on the road. Seeing her struggle, the youth made a hasty retreat,” says James. However, the others continued to pin him down, refusing to let him go to Melina’s aid. A police constable, who identified himself as Vijay Kumar, arrived at the scene. On seeing him, the gang hurriedly left the scene.James narrated the incident to the constable who took the couple on a search of nearby localities to check if their attacker was lurking nearby. Melina spotted him in one of the lanes. However, despite giving him a chase, he managed to escape. “Since it was getting late to see our baby, we left for the hospital. After returning home, I noticed my gold chain was missing. I suspect the goons took advantage of the situation to rob us as well,” says James.The couple decided to file a complaint at the MICO Layout police station. If being attacked in broad daylight wasn’t bad enough, what followed was a bizarre charade. “The response of the police was pathetic despite one of their constables witnessing the incident. A sub-inspector named Nanje Gowda wanted us to tone down the details in the complaint,” says James.In fact, James says it was only thanks to their connections to a retired police officer that their complaint was even taken down.The next day, James says the sub-inspector called them up, asking them to come to the station as he claimed to have brought the auto driver and the youth who had attacked them to the station. “When my wife and I went, the sub-inspector asked us to narrate the entire saga to an unknown person.” It later emerged that Gowda wanted them to recount their nightmare to the stranger, who was in no way connected to the case, because he was a local.“The police then asked the accused youth if he had beaten us or kicked my wife. When he refuted all the allegations, the sub-inspector let him go,” says James.“We are under immense stress due to our baby’s health condition. Instead of speeding up the formalities, the police are just dragging the case and making us visit the station regularly. If no proper action is initiated, we will have to approach higher-ups,” James added. Efforts to reach sub-inspector Nanje Gowda failed as he had gone to Chennai.Meanwhile, a senior police officer said the incident had come to his notice. “The couple was told to meet me yesterday, but they have not yet done so. Before initiating action against the sub-inspector, I need to know their version,” the officer said.