Victims decide to take on tormentors

What wrong did we do, they ask

The young women and and youths who were attacked by a gang of hooligans at ''Morning Mist'' homestay in the city on Saturday evening, are yet to recover from the shock of the unprovoked assault, but disbelief is giving way to resolve to fight back.

Narrating the events, Gurudutt Kamath, a DJ by hobby, who was one of the victims of the attack, said a gang of around 30-40 men barged into the homestay at 6.30 pm on Saturday and attacked them for no specific reason.

“We had booked the homestay to celebrate the birthdays of two of my friends. We arrived at the party place at 2.30 in the afternoon, cut the cakes, consumed beer, had food and chatted on till evening. As the five girls who had attended the party had to reach home early, we had decided to conclude the party by 7 pm. As we were just planning to leave the place, a group of men barged in. Before we could realise what was going on, we were thrashed black and blue,” he said.

The attackers tore off the clothes of girls and boys, touched the girls’ private parts and showered abuses on them.

“Though we tried explaining to them that it was just a birthday party and we were not involved in any immoral activity, they paid no heed to the justifications and turned more violent,” he said.

Attackers were drunk

Marlon D’Souza, one of the victims, said the attackers were more drunk than them. “We could get smell the alcohol even at a distance, as they approached us. One of them was so heavily drunk that rocked on his feet. They carried blades and slashed a girl and a boy. They hit another friend of mine who was left with a bleeding nose. A girl who was slapped was left with a broken tooth.” 

D’Souza smarts under the hurt of being accused by the their attackers of sullying culture, rather than the injuries he suffered during the attack.

“We were not engaged in any immoral activity, or consumed drugs as the attackers have said. All the 14 of us were above 18. We have the right to party and consume alcohol. We had informed our parents about the party took their permission. Then what was the problem with the attackers? How were they concerned?” he wanted to know.

Among the 14 youth who were partying, three were professionals, while the others study in Sahyadri Engineering College, Sridevi Institute of Technology and Roshni Nilaya.

The victims have decided to fight the attackers legally. “I have filed complaint against the offenders and we will ensure that they are punished. We do not want any other youth in the city undergo a similar experience,” said Vijaya Kumar, whose birthday bash it was.