The police in Bengaluru on Thursday announced the arrest of a bike taxi rider who allegedly trespassed into a paying guest facility for women, inappropriately touched a tenant, and stole money from her room.
The Suddaguntepalya police, who identified the arrested man as Naresh Pattem, 30, a native of Madanapalli in Andhra Pradesh who was living in Electronic City, said that he had previously been involved in robbery cases in Bengaluru.
The latest incident took place at the Laxmana Durga Ladies PG in BTM 1st Stage between 3 and 4am on August 29.
Pattem had arrived in Bengaluru after securing bail in two robbery cases from his hometown in 2021.
While passing by, he found that the door of the PG facility was open and that the security guard was asleep, according to the police.
Pattem allegedly entered the room of the woman, who initially mistook him for her roommate returning after work. But she was shocked to discover that the intruder was a masked man. When he touched her inappropriately, the woman protested, the police said. He then allegedly threatened her with a knife and engaged in a brief struggle with her before stealing Rs 2,500 from her room.
According to the police, CCTV cameras captured the entire incident, showing the masked assailant being chased by the woman as he fled through the same staircase he used to enter the building. It also revealed that he had spent approximately two minutes on the PG facility’s premises before escaping.
Story continues below this ad
A police officer said, “In order to prevent getting caught if someone raised an alarm, Naresh locked neighbouring rooms from outside before entering the room of the victim. Starting from the PG, we followed his trail by analysing hundreds of pieces of CCTV footage and eventually caught him.”
The police arrested Pattem under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 75 (sexual harassment), 76 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to disrobe her), and 329 (3) (criminal trespass).