Be it the December 2012 gangrape of a physiotherapy student in Delhi, the India Against Corruption Movement, the sexual assault of minors in Bengaluru in 2014, the murder of anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra or the Jessica Lal murder case- each of this caught the public attention and subsequent public outrage was witnessed.
The incidents saw the common man stepping out of their homes and lives, and raise their voice against the issues that plagues society today. Their combined voices have helped raise pertinent questions,.
But it seems the Bengaluru Police is in no mood to allow a platform to these voices.
The city police have booked cases against the administration and students of two colleges and other campaigners who had protested outside the Esteem mall in Hebbal on Bellary Road last Friday. The protest happened a day after a speeding tanker moved down several people crossing the road, instantly killing two.
The protestors were reiterating the demand for a skywalk on this road that has proven dangerous for motorists and pedestrians alike time and again. They have been booked under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 147 (rioting), 141 (unlawful assembly).
One girl student has been named in the FIR for getting in an argument with the Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Additional Commissioner of Police (law and order) Alok Kumar told Bangalore Mirror that though several students were protesting, FIRs were registered against those ‘who kept inciting other students to come on the road and stage a protest.’ Defending the city police’s action, Kumar added that filing of FIRs was ‘much needed’ because ‘Inconvenience was caused to so many people as a result of the protest.’ He however added that the police won’t make any arrests.
