A 24-year-old Kashmiri student was assaulted by a group of four youths in AECS Layout near HAL in southeast Bengaluru on March 20.
The victim, who does modelling to fund his studies, said he had no idea why he was assaulted. The police, however, said the attack had nothing to do with the Pulwama incident or any outsider animosity.
Absar Zahoor Dhar, from Srinagar in Kashmir, suffered grievous injuries to his hand, head and face.
Based on his complaint, the HAL police arrested the accused, identified as Nithin (25), Manjesh (21), Gautham (26), and Abhi alias Santhosh (20), all residents of Kundalahalli Colony.
Trouble began for Dhar, a civil engineering student at the CMRIT College, on the evening of March 19 when he had gone to the gym. As he was having coffee at Madouk Cafe, a group of four to five people, one of whom identified himself as Nithin, approached Dhar and accused him of eve-teasing. Dhar politely refuted the allegation, following which Nithin and his associates warned him and left the cafe.
The next day, when Dhar was at an ice-cream parlour in AECS Layout, the accused, armed with iron rods, dragged him out of the shop and began assaulting him without any provocation.
This time, the accused said he was riding his bike rashly. “My friends rushed to my help or else they could have killed me,” Dhar told DH.
Dhar, who sustained injuries to his hand, head and face, was rushed to a nearby hospital by his friends.
Dhar said he continues to live in fear, not even attending his classes, as all the four accused have obtained bail.
“I am living in fear and not attending college as the assailants roam free in front of my house as if nothing has happened,” said Dhar.