Bengaluru: Describing the horror on Bengaluru's famous MG Road on New Year's Eve, some eyewitnesses have claimed that it was 'mass molestation' when several women were harassed and heckled as thousands of revelers poured out on to the street close to midnight.

A young woman who was present on the boulevard in the heart of the Karnataka capital that night described the situation as "almost a stampede".

Recounting the horror of the day, the young girl said that she saw "girls crying and shouting for help."

One middle-aged woman fainted and another took off her shoes to fend off attackers, she added.



"Whenever a woman passed the molesters groped and pawed them, taking advantage of the intense crowd...You can fight back one or two people but how do you fight a crowd, another girl was quoted as saying by the NDTV.

The girl stressed that the men on streets were "intentionally" targeting women.

Several women were harassed and even molested on the streets of the city on New Year's eve, as per media reports.

Reports said that riotous crowd in the central Bengaluru areas of MG Road, Brigade Road and Church Street shouted lewd remarks at the women, who rushed to policemen on duty for help.

"By midnight, the shouts of happy new year turned to help me,“ K Anantha Subramanyam, a photographer for Bangalore Mirror, was quoted as saying by News18.

He was witness to the scenes that unfolded.

He added that there were no senior police officials in the spot and others on deployment were in certain pockets and not spread across the region.

Also, constables reportedly watched helplessly as they realised that they were outnumbered.

Reacting to the matter, Karnataka DGP Om Prakash said, "Since such reports have come, will identify culprits and take action," as per ANI.

On the other hand, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said, "It's unfortunate, had installed more than 25 CCTVs, will examine. Such incidents do happen on New Year day and on Christmas. We take a lot of precautions."

However, the Karnataka Home Minister has stopped short of offering any apology to the victims for the shocking incident.

Meanwhile, Union Home Ministry has condemned the incident and the irresponsible remarks made by the Karnataka Home Minister and called for swift action by the police.

I condemn d irresponsible comment made by Karnataka Home Minister. City Police should catch all the identified culprits & put behind the bar https://t.co/XCOPCoOTet — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 3, 2017

(With Agency inputs)