Bengaluru, April 11, 2025 – A disturbing video of a couple being harassed and assaulted by five men outside a park in Bengaluru’s Kammanahalli went viral Thursday, drawing a sharp rebuke from Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge. The footage, aired by NDTV, shows the pair—a man in an orange t-shirt and a woman in a burqa—cornered on their scooter as the mob taunts, slaps the man, and films the woman, sparking fury over rising moral policing.
The attack hit at 4 PM Wednesday. The couple, chatting near BG Park, faced off with the group—one grabbed the man’s collar, another shoved him, yelling “public mein kyun baitha?” (Why sit in public?). A juvenile in the pack recorded it, grinning, per The Indian Express. Bystanders froze; cops swooped in late Wednesday, nabbing all five—four adults and the minor—charging them under BNS Sections 115(2) (hurt) and 351(2) (threat). “Case is tight—two confessed,” a Kalyan Nagar cop said.
Kharge didn’t mince words: “This isn’t UP or Bihar—Karnataka won’t tolerate this,” he told NDTV. The Congress minister promised “exemplary punishment,” but the clip—already trending on X with “#BengaluruShame”—has locals seething. “City’s turning lawless,” one user posted; another jabbed, “IT hub, thug hub.” It’s not new—2024 saw 12 moral policing cases here (NCRB), from groping rows to now this.
The couple, unnamed, filed a complaint Thursday—shaken but unhurt. Police say it’s a “random flare-up,” not planned, but the burqa angle’s got tongues wagging—communal or just macho nonsense? Kharge’s sidestepped that, focusing on law. With Karnataka’s image as a progressive hub on the line, this stings deeper—Modi’s “nari shakti” pitch echoes hollow here.
It’s a gut check—can Bengaluru’s cops curb this rot, or is “safe city” just a tagline?
