Woman abused, beaten up for not knowing Kannada

BENGALURU: A woman from Punjab was allegedly abused and beaten up by a group of women who accused her of not knowing how to speak Kannada. The incident happened near a government school at Doddabommasandra in Vidyaranyapura police station limits.

The victim Neelamjit Kaur (46), who is a stylist, owns a salon and spa in the city. She is from Ludhiana in Punjab. Kaur was surrounded by a group of angry women when she applied sudden brakes on her scooter in a bid to save a 7-year-old child.  

She told the parents of the child to take care of the kid and not to leave him unattended on the road. This resulted in an argument and a group of women who started gathering began abusing her for not knowing Kannada. They even asked her to go away from Karnataka.

Frustrated over this, she started making a video of the unruly mob following which she was beaten by some women with a plastic pipe. The group also pulled her hair. The incident happened between 10 pm and 10.15 pm on Friday.

“It appears that somebody who was not even involved in the initial argument passed a comment on Kaur that she does not know Kannada and that she is an outsider. Kaur was alone and did not find support from anyone. The allegation about her having been beaten by other women is being checked. We are examining the CCTV footage in the vicinity.

Nobody has been arrested or taken into custody for questioning so far. The case is still under investigation. Those found guilty will be punished,” a police officer, who is part of the investigation, told The New Indian Express. The Vidyaranyapura police have registered cases under IPC 143 (unlawful assembly), IPC 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) IPC 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons).