Activists heckle woman for ‘abusing’ Kannada

A middle-aged Gujarati woman was roughed up by a group of women activists belonging to a pro-Kannada organisation in Soladevanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Thursday afternoon. The activists claimed the woman abused Kannadigas and Karnataka.

The incident, according to the local police, happened at a private bank in Shettyhalli ward where the woman came to enrol for her son’s Aadhaar card. She had been visiting the bank for the past two days and was upset with the delay caused by officials.

The enraged woman claimed that she had been staying in the city for over 20 years and suddenly began abusing Kannadigas and Karnataka, hurling racial slurs at the staff and onlookers, the police said.

The irked staff informed a pro-Kannada women's outfit whose members rushed to the spot and confronted the woman. When the woman was asked to apologise, she turned violent and started roughing up the activists, resulting in a scuffle. The incident triggered tension in the vicinity for a while. The crowd dispersed after her son apologised over her remarks to the activists. However, when DH contacted the Soladevanahalli police, they said that though the incident was reported, no formal complaint was lodged with them.