The accused turned themselves in to a local court on Thursday after reportedly groping a woman inside the Lulu mall in Bengaluru in a horrific event that occurred recently.
The culprit was identified as retired school teacher Ashwath Narayan, 61. At approximately 5:00 p.m., he turned himself in to the third Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Court.
Basaveshwara Nagar is the place where Narayan resides. He was the headmaster of Dasarahalli’s Sri Virabhadra High School.
On Sunday, a video of the man touching women went viral on social media. The incident happened at Rajajinagar’s Lulu Mall.
The video’s creator, Yeshwanth Jayaprakash, claimed to have witnessed him inappropriately touching four or five women prior to being captured on tape.
“At first, I assumed something must have gone wrong…However, ten or fifteen minutes later, I witnessed the man approach and touch a group of women. I saw there was a problem,” Jayaprakash said, as reported by Deccan Herald.
Despite Jayaprakash informing the administration and security of the mall, Narayan was nowhere to be seen. The cops were notified later.
After learning about the event, K.K. Shereef of Lulu International Shopping Malls lodged a complaint with the Magadi Road police.
Narayan locked up his residence and left after the police identified the culprit. He was later given bail.
A case has been filed under sections 294 (obscene actions and songs), 354A (sexual harassment and its punishment), and 509 (words, gestures, or acts intended to offend a woman’s modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).