MYSURU: Just like the Paris police had urged women to report sexual harassment during celebrations of France’s football World Cup win in July, Mysuru police have followed suit. Officials are urging girls to report such incidents following a series of tweets of harassment during the Open Street Festival on Krishnaraja Boulevard on Saturday.Police commissioner A Subramanyeswara Rao told TOI, “Such incidents must be brought to our notice so that we can bring wrongdoers to book.”The top cop claimed that they haven’t received any formal complaint so far, nor have they noticed any such incident in footage captured by cameras of the mobile command centre stationed at the venue. Organizers of the festival are considering handing over footage of 60 CCTVs installed along a 500m stretch along Krishnaraja Boulevard.Rao was reacting following a slew of tweets of inappropriate touching, stalking, sexual overtures, lewd remarks and assault. Women who chose to remain anonymous shared their horrific experiences on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A few explained how they were sexually assaulted, molested and manhandled in the dense crowd.A mother-daughter duo was in deep shock when the 15-yearold was constantly followed by a bunch of boys, right from the venue of the festival to their residence. The incident was posted on various social media platforms and ‘Mysuru Memes’, a social media page which asked girls to share their stories. When TOI checked, ‘Mysuru Memes’ had more than 50 complaints.“We girls displayed bravery by slapping the guys who attacked them. There were complaints about guys manhandling girls in the crowd. Boys on bikes also hit girls,” the complaints claimed.One of the admins of Mysuru Memes told TOI that their Instagram account inbox was flooded with messages from victims. “On Sunday, we had a poll asking people to share their experience so that it could reach the police. We want the cops to investigate and take stringent action against the attackers,” the admin stated.DCP (law and order) N Vishnuvardhana said police have footage from cameras installed at the mobile command centre, handy cameras and bodymounted cameras. “We haven’t found any such incidents. We have been informed about the ‘trouble’ by a youth who came on a two-wheeler, and we’re pursuing it,” he said.Open Street Festival event manager B S Prashanth, who is president of Mysuru Travel Agents Association, said, “There are no complaints except posts of harassment on social media. If it has really happened, it has to be recorded on CCTVs installed in many places here.”

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