Udupi, 01 June 2011: A teenager was sexually harassed by the Tamilunadu drivers and the public caught these culprits in Udupi on Thursday afternoon. The teenager Chinthamani (16) along with her younger brother left her village Sathyamangala in Tamilnadu on Wednesday night by Tamilnadu State Transport’s Coimbatore – Kollur bus, to visit her mother who is working as labourer in Karkala of Udupi District. In the bus she and her brother were sitting beside each other in two seats.
After midnight she felt somebody is moving around the hands on her body, when she woke up she saw the driver’s hands were on her, her brother who was sleeping beside her has been shifted to another seat and he was sleeping, she has mentioned in her complaint given to the Udupi Police Station. When she protested, the driver left her. Later the other driver came and he also touched her and behaved improperly with her, but she protested again. Then he offered to give her money and told her that the bus will go to Kollur and will return to Udupi bus stand on Thursday afternoon at 02.30 pm, you come there, he called me, says Chintamani.
Thursday morning along with her brother she got down at Padubidri and went to Karkala and told her mother about what happened in the bus. Her mother, grandmother and other relatives on Thursday afternoon went to Udupi bus stand and waited for the bus to come. When the bus came Chitamani identified both the drivers. First Chintamani’s grandmother slapped one of the driver with her chappals. When the other driver tried to move the bus, the public caught him. At that time the drivers even argued with the public. Later the police came and took both the drivers into their custody. The drivers names are Ashok Kumar and Rama, said the police. Police have registered the case from Chintamani.