Bengaluru case of molestation, stalking was a set up, say police

BENGALURU: After a series of allegations of molestation came to light in Bengaluru over the past week, police on Sunday said one of the cases, where a woman was allegedly stalked and molested, was staged by the woman and her alleged attacker.

On Friday, a video from a CCTV camera surfaced, showing a woman clad in a burqa being allegedly stalked by a man while she was heading towards a bus stand around 6.30 am. Later in the day, another video surfaced, in which the victim was seen showing wounds she had allegedly sustained during the attack.

Ajay Hilori, deputy commissioner of police, east division, said upon investigation, the police found that the alleged stalker was Irshad Khan, the brother-in-law of the woman. He said the duo had been in a relationship, and as the woman’s parents were trying to get her married, they decided to stage the molestation because, he said, they felt she would then not be able to find a match.

“The accused thought he could then convince his wife to let him marry her sister,” Hilori said.

Hilori said the accused then surveyed the area for cameras and staged the incident. In fact, he said, Khan had been so confident about the plan that it was he who took the victim to the police station and he also found the CCTV footage.

A senior officer, who did not wish to be named, said the accused had made one error, they did not know that there was another CCTV camera that had captured what happened after the staged scene. The official said, in the second video the couple was seen chatting after passing the first camera.

Police said after they confronted Khan with the evidence he confessed to the crime.