Karnataka Woman Beats Bank Manager With Stick In Response To Sexual Harassment
A woman in the province of Karnataka, India, was met with unwanted sexual advances from a bank manager when she tried to apply for a loan. Unfortunately for him, he had chosen the wrong woman to try and bully into performing sexual favors.
A video has gone viral of the encounter, after she was recorded hitting him with a stick, slapping his face, and dragging him by the collar of his shirt, insisting that he accompany her to the police station so that she could open a case against him, according to Hindustan Times.
The incident occurred in Davanagere, Karnataka, on Monday afternoon, after a bank manager for DHFL Bank, who has been identified as Devaiah, invited the woman to his house to process her documents in her request for a Rs 2 lakh loan. In his house, police say the woman alleges he began to sexually harass her, saying he would give her the loan if she had sex with him.
She clearly took exception to his uncouth offer and taught him a much-needed lesson if the 51-second video onlookers captured of her anger is anything to go by. The footage was later picked up by local news agency ANI, who shared the video clip to their own Twitter account.
While she has seemed to have remained relatively calm as she scolds and hits him, he appears to be pleading with her to stop her retaliation of his harassment. At one point, she even uses one of her slippers to beat him.
#WATCH Woman in Karnataka's Davanagere thrashes a bank manager for allegedly asking sexual favours to approve her loan (15 October) pic.twitter.com/IiiKbiEgZ9
— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018
“The woman had gone to the accused’s house around 2 pm. Once there, the manager allegedly harassed her saying he would process the documents,” Chetan Singh Rathore, Superintendent of Police of the district, said.
The incident took place about an hour and a half later, around 3:30 pm.
“The accused has been remanded in judicial custody,” Rathore added.
Devaiah has been booked under sections 354 and 354 A, both of which deal with sexual harassment. He has also been fired from his job, effective immediately.
“In the light of the unfortunate incident at Karnataka’s Davanagere, we have terminated the services of the employee with immediate effect. DHFL strongly promotes & cultivates an environment that is conducive for the safety of women,” the company said.
Several people took to Twitter to praise the woman’s quick actions against Devaiah, with many calling her the “real #MeToo warrior” for taking immediate action against her attacker.
According to the Indian Express, the #MeToo campaign has swept India with a vengeance in just the past few days, with a spate of allegations made by women in all walks of life against powerful men in the country.
