Police register 4 suo motu FIRs over New Year's Eve molestation

Taking media reports and social media posts at their face value, police have registered cases based on first-person accounts by ‘victims’, City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said.

He said though extensive review of CCTV footage by police has yielded no evidence of any groping or molestation incidents on New Year’s Eve, they would send notices to media houses seeking more information or contact details of sources who shared such experiences.

Sood said over 45 CCTV cameras and 1,500 police personnel were present in and around MG Road to maintain law and order. “This apart, there were media personnel along with their camera crew at the very spot. No news about such incidents came to light or made it to headlines in the media on New Year’s Day. Even on Sunday, when I took office as commissioner, and when journalists interacted with me, there was no mention of any groping or molestation,” he said.

However, the following day, after a section of the media carried a report about women being molested carrying first-person accounts, everyone picked it up, he said. “Despite repeated appeals, neither the victims nor the media came forward to help us probe further, for which we have decided to issue notices to media houses to help us get justice for the victims,” Sood stated.

Two cases have been registered at Cubbon Park police station based on first-person accounts published in an English daily and an interview given to a television channel, respectively, on the alleged mass molestation on MG Road/Brigade Road on New Year’s Eve.

A suo motu case has been registered at Ashoknagar police station where, according to a local English daily, an event organiser and presenter had seen at least two women molested on Brigade Road. Another suo motu case has been taken up at Indiranagar police station based on a post by a woman photographer who said she was a victim of groping and molestation on New Year’s Eve, he said.