Mount Carmel College

MCC

CCTV

Chandamita Bordoloi

Mount Print Zone

Journalism

Anushtha Mishra

Bangalore University

Chayanika Deka

Supriya Kumari

If convicted, he faces imprisonment for up to three years; the 32-year-old has family back home in KeralaA 32-year-old man, a journalist with a popular Malayalam newspaper, has been arrested for repeatedly flashing outsidein Vasanthnagar. Vijesh, a resident of Kammanahalli, had reportedly been flashing the students on Loop Road, when they came to pick-up their two-wheelers. He continued to harass them for a month until a group of 10 students went to the police.An officer told Mirror that Vijesh would wait at the parking lot across the road fromevery day and target not only lone students, but even groups of them. “He had been at it for almost a month. After we arrested him, he confessed that flashing gave him pleasure,” said the cop.Vijesh has a wife and a small child who live in Kerala. After the complaint, he resigned from his job at the Malayalm newspaper, which has an office in Vasanthnagar.The High Grounds police have registered a case against him under Sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.“As the cases registered against him are bailable, he was released on bail. Somebody known to him gave the surety. He has reportedly resigned from his job. As the students have promised to stand witness against him, it is a clear case of conviction. He could be facing rigorous imprisonment up to three years,” the officer added.The police have recorded the statements of the students, who have also identified the accused after he was arrested based on thefootages available in the vicinity. The bike that Vijesh used during these incidents had ‘Press’ written on it. This helped the police identify him easily.Flashers not new hereResidents of Vasathnagar say perverts and exhibitionists are no stranger to this area., a third-year student at MCC, said she was with a friend who lives in a PG accommodation here, when they saw a man on a scooter staring at them while stroking himself. While they decided to ignore the pervert and move on quickly, the harassment didn’t end. She saw, whom she assumed to be the same man, flashing again around 8 pm, this time near, a place that remains packed with college girls throughout the day.Chandamita says she has seen this guy about 4-5 times. He generally wears black jacket and frameless glasses and rides a black two-wheeler. It is, however, believed that there might be another man involved who rides a white scooter as some other students claim to have had the same experience with a man in his mid- or late-30s.studentsaid she once caught a man masturbating in front of her on a pavement while staring at her. “I called the Police Control room. It took me 15 minutes to explain what happened. They didn’t know what masturbation meant and I had to explain it to them. About half an hour later, I received a call from the nearest police station asking me for more details. Obviously, by then the man had left.”On the bright side that was, she said, the last time such an incident happened. Policemen these days usually patrol the area.Why do they do itPsychologist MS Thimmappa, who is also a former vice-chancellor of, says exhibitionism is a kind of “mental abrasion” and a “vicarious way of satisfying sexual urges”. “Each person may have their own reason for doing such acts in public, but they do need psychiatric help. One’s past experiences and interactions influence their behaviour,” he added.Simply put, exhibitionism or paraphilia, is characterised by having repeated urge to expose oneself to a stranger. While there may be several theories about what brings on the urge, generally, people who flash do so because they find it arousing. One may have a desire to upset or shock the stranger, another may fantasise that the stranger will become sexually aroused by their display. But some are not aware of, or even concerned about, the stranger’s response.