BENGALURU: It was a regular night on a Tuesday for residents of Amrutha Heights Apartments in Nallurahalli near Whitefield. After a long day at work, they were taking respite on park benches, while some were on their after-dinner walks, keeping an eye on the kids playing at the park.
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But the moment of relaxation was short-lived. To their dismay, an inebriated resident went on a rampage, attacking a four-member family, including a toddler inside the apartment complex.
The victim Rahul (name changed) told TOI, "I was with my family downstairs in the play area, where my 1.5-year-old daughter was playing, and my wife was on her walk. It was around 9.45pm and as I needed to attend a work call, I carried my daughter in my arm when I noticed a speeding Innova heading towards the barricaded area. It crashed through and entered the play area. I shouted at him, ‘Dikhta nahi hai kya?' (Can't you see?). He immediately tried to drive the car toward me and my daughter, and I moved aside just in time."
Reliving the nightmare, he said: "Then, an elderly man who was moving the barricade for the car came running at me and started hitting me, while I was still holding my daughter. I immediately handed her over to my wife and resisted the attack. That's when the driver and another man joined in and started beating me badly."
Rahul's mother rushed to protect her son, but was seriously injured in the process. "One of the men pushed my mother so hard that she fell on a flower pot and suffered a deep cut on her head. He continued to hit her even then. Some residents finally rushed in and stopped him," Rahul said. The apartment residents said the drama didn't end there. "The three got into the car and drove rashly inside the apartment complex again. They broke through another barricaded area and even tried to drive through a group of senior citizens, mostly women, who were sitting on a park bench."
Meanwhile, Rahul's mother was taken to a nearby hospital, where she received seven stitches on her head.
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The 35-year-old techie, who has lived in the apartment for four years, said this was the first time he witnessed such hooliganism in the complex. "I had to leave the apartment immediately and rush to my friend's place in Seegehalli because my child was traumatised and my mother was seriously hurt."
An FIR has been filed at Whitefield police station under charges of voluntarily causing hurt and damage to property. "A case has been registered, and the investigation is in progress. Notices will be served to the accused, and further necessary action will be taken," a senior police officer said.