Prime accused John Richard's father, too, has been arrested, reports said.
Published Jun 24, 2025 | 1:35 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 25, 2025 | 6:37 PM
The latest incident has raised questions about women's safety in Bengaluru.
Synopsis: The woman was returning from a grocery store when the gang, reportedly intoxicated, molested her at Renuka Yellamma Layout on Sunday.
Five men were arrested for allegedly harassing a 26-year-old woman at Renuka Yellamma Layout near Mailasandra under Bannerghatta Police, Bengaluru district police said on Tuesday, 24 June.
“Continuing with the investigation of yesterday’s case regarding the incident that occurred in Bannerghatta Police Station limits, all five accused have been arrested,” Superintendent of Police CK Baba announced on X.
The woman was allegedly molested by the gang around 4 pm on Sunday, 22 June, while she was returning home from a grocery shop. According to a report in Deccan Herald, one of the men, identified as John Richard, requested sexual favours. When the woman turned down his request, the gang allegedly manhandled her.
The woman alerted her gym trainer, who arrived at the scene and rescued her. The entire incident was caught on a nearby CCTV camera, and the visuals of the daylight harassment shocked the city.
The gang allegedly followed the woman, a mother of two, to her home and created a ruckus. They left only after neighbours stepped in.
Police earlier said the gym trainer, who assaulted the main accused, and Richard would be arrested. The police’s stand sparked criticism from the BJP.
“The police did not act against the culprits. Instead, they filed a case against the victim and the boy who tried to save her. This is brutality backed by the system. This is justice turned upside down,” Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje said in an X post..
“Siddaramaiah’s government has failed every woman in the state. Criminals roam free. Victims are punished. The police are spineless. The government is shameless,” she added.
The minister also said that the woman was groped, dragged, and assaulted in broad daylight by a gang of six drunk men. “This is not just a crime. This is a terrifying reality of Karnataka under Siddaramaiah’s rule,” Karandlaje said.
A young woman in Bengaluru was groped, dragged and assaulted in broad daylight by a gang of six drunk men.
This is not just a crime. This is a terrifying reality of Karnataka under Siddaramaiah’s rule.The police did not act against the culprits. Instead, they filed a case… pic.twitter.com/XAIk6329FU
— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) June 23, 2025
Besides Richard, his businessman father, Kanikya Swamy, has also been arrested. The accused have been charged under sections related to sexual harassment, assault, criminal intimidation, and wrongful restraint.
John’s mother, Mary Pusha, has lodged a complaint of assault against the gym trainer.
Incidentally, a woman was assaulted by a man on 3 April at BTM Layout. The incident was also captured on CCTV cameras. Visuals showed the woman walking with a female friend and the man coming from behind, and groping her before fleeing.
It triggered a controversy after Home Minister G Parameshwara said such incidents “tend to happen here and there in a big city like this (Bengaluru).
In January, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sparked a controversy, asking, “Have there been no rapes during the BJP tenure?” He was responding to an incident of two men sexually assaulting and robbing a 37-year-old woman near KR Market in Bengaluru.
