flashed

private parts

perverts

sexual harassment

Cops join to set a trap and nab deviant after she gave chase for 2 kmA pervert whohisat a 26-year-old classical Odissi dancer got his comeuppance when she first confronted him, and then chased him for a good 2 km straight into a waiting posse of policemen. Vandana Supriya, the brave woman, who refused to remain a silent victim, has also set an example to emulate for other women at the receiving end of such depraved conduct.Vandana is a resident of Dollars Colony, a tony neighbourhood in the city. Last Thursday (May 15) evening, around 7.30 pm, she and her younger sister Manasa were out walking in the Boulevard Park, located very near their house.While strolling on the road inside the park, Manasa got a call on her mobile phone and the sisters sat on the pavement, located opposite a fencing, while the younger one attended the call. Minutes after sitting on the pavement, Vandana sensed something was amiss. On looking up, she noticed a man standing near the fencing. He had unzipped and pulled down his trousers, and was flashing his private parts.It was a decisive moment for Vandana. She told Bangalore Mirror what happened next: ”I told my sister not to lift her face and continue talking over the phone as I started walking towards him. After he noticed that I was walking towards the entrance of the park, he zipped himself up and came on my way. I confronted him and questioned what he was doing there. He did not respond. I repeated the same question in a louder voice. Another person who had come for a walk came near us, and enquired what was the matter. While I was trying to explain, the pervert started running.””He may have a perverted world view which assumes women as interactive sex toys. I wanted to show him that I am a real person, and not a passive element of his perverted mind. Most women keep quiet out of fear, perhaps? But I wanted to show those days are over where women used to keep quiet even when they were manhandled,” Vandana said.The events of that evening are firmly etched in her mind. ”As he started running, I chased him. Another man, who had come to walk along with his dog, saw me running. He thought my chain had been snatched and asked me. I did not have much time to explain to him the details as the pervert was already running, so I just told him that I was chasing him because he misbehaved. He immediately joined me.”So the two of the them started chasing the pervert, the latter’s excited dog in tow. Every criminal on the run slips up somewhere. Perhaps a decisive breakthrough came for Vandana when the pervert chose to take the street in front of the house of IPS officer TR Suresh (DCP, North-east division). Two policemen deployed at his residence saw him running.”The man who came for my help was alerting them to catch the pervert. They started their bike and took another road so that they could get ahead of him and block his path,” Vandana said.By then the pervert had run more than 2 km. He had to stop running and turn back as he saw two policemen blocking the road. ”I caught him and questioned him what he was doing in the park. He kept on arguing that he did nothing. So we took him to T R Suresh’s house and narrated the entire episode to the IPS officer,” Vandana said.”The Sanjay Nagar policemen were summoned. I dragged him to the police station along with the police. The pervert refused to accept what he had done. I had to be smart with him and told him that I had recorded all his gestures. He did not know what to do and confessed that he had indeed flashed his private parts. I filed a complaint with the police. The police initially asked him to fall at my feet and apologise, and requested me to pardon him. When I refused and stood firm and told the police that he should be punished, they registered the FIR,” the determined Odissi dancer recalled with satisfaction. ”What was shocking to me was that he was a chartered accountant. Despite being well educated, he behaved so cheaply. These kind of people need to be punished.”Vandana went on to say, ”A few people who gathered at the spot questioned me, asking inanities like ’why is she out so late, she is not supposed to come out at this time’ and the like. It was just 8 pm then. I have had it with protecting my ’precious' womanhood, I'm an adult human being. Is it a crime to come out for walking after 7.30 pm? Treat me as one or get far away out of my life. Don’t try to protect me, I'm quite capable of protecting myself.”Joint commissioner of police (crime) Hemanth Nimabalkar said, ”These incidents are happening often these days. We will take action against such people with perverted minds.”Deputy Commissioner of police (north) Sandeep Patil, said, ”Vandana has done a great job by making efforts to nab the accused. We are not going to pardon such persons. Strict action will be initiated against them without any mercy.”The Sanjay Nagar police said the arrested has been identified as Prashanth alias Vinay (40), a resident of Mathikere, and a native of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. He initially denied the charge of flashing his private parts and tried to pretend that he had just gone for a bio break. But further questioning made him confess to the crime, though he was unable to explain his conduct.Prashanth also told police that he is a divorcee. Though there are parks in Mathikere, apparently he keeps coming to the Boulevard Park every day.A senior police officer said that flashers are many in number. ”Most women do not complain to us fearing that the pervert may do something to them after he walks out of the police station or jail. Even parents and family members also do not support them to go to the police and complain. The women are also scared to share such things as some people without common sense start laughing at them, instead of helping. So they just ignore suchand avoid going to such places again.Vandana appeals to all women to free themselves from objectification. ”I am tired of being treated like an object. In the beginning, I would not respond to streetfrom men. But after the recent spate of reported rapes, I think the time has come to fight back without fear and either win or die in the process.”-- The first thing a woman should do when a pervert flashes at them is to alert people around.-- If possible, take the photo of the pervert. It will be an important evidence.-- Do not ignore the flashers, they will advantage of it, and even scale up their offence.-- Try to catch the flasher with the help of the people around. Hand him over to the police.-- If you are alone, call 100 and provide information on the spot. Police will rush to the spot.-- If the pervert comes in a vehicle, note down its number and hand it over to the police.-- Alert the nearest police. Make use of Janasnehi (police-friendly) points.-- Avoid walking alone in isolated and dark places.A woman resident of Jayanagar, who’s in her 20s, told BM: ”A month ago, I was walking with my dog near Madhavan Park. There were lots of school kids in the afternoon. Suddenly a guy on a scooter who was riding towards us took a U-turn and came back after first passing us. On approaching us, he pulled out his private part and flashed it. I screamed and alerted a watchman nearby, who came running. But the pervert sped away. It was very shocking.”Another girl, also from Jayanagar, who underwent such an incident around the same time, told BM: ”I went to the police station after a pervert flashed his private part. I was so tensed that I did not know what to do. I did not note down his vehicle number, so the police said they can do only little about the case and it’s of no use to file a complaint. So, I just ignored it.”Last year, a flasher identified as Santosh, a second division clerk in the Health Department, was booked by Wilson Garden police for flashing in front of two minor girls. He came in a two-wheeler, and on approaching them, stopped and began removing his pants. He was not wearing any undergarment.