Zilla Nagarika Horata Samiti members, including Avvanna Myakeri and Ambaraya Ashtagi, during a press conference in Kalaburagi on Thursday. | Photo credit: ARUN KULKARNI
The Zilla Nagarika Horata Samiti strongly condemned last week’s brutal attack on a 27-year-old rag picker from Mangarwadi community in Kalaburagi and demanded immediate and impartial action against the accused.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Samiti leaders Avvanna Myakeri and Ambaraya Ashtagi alleged that the police did not register the victim’s complaint quickly and showed negligence in dealing with a serious crime involving a woman.
In the early morning of February 7, when she was on her regular duty of collecting rags and reached Malagatti Cross in an auto rickshaw, a group of six youths allegedly tried to force her into the car. They allegedly attacked her with a ladle, inflicting head injuries and breaking her arm before fleeing the scene, Mr Myakeri said.
The victim, Preeti S. Upadhya, is a widow with two children whose husband died nine years ago due to health problems.
Mr Ashtagi said the victim was allegedly targeted with the intention of sexually assaulting her. When she raised the alarm, the assailants physically assaulted her and tried to portray the incident as a case of robbery to portray her in a bad light.
Mr. Ashtagi argued that the delay in filing the complaint and the fact that the accused are still at large is a matter of serious concern. The police seem to be under pressure not to arrest the culprits.
He claimed that the hospital where the woman was being treated tried to insist on her early release, which they described as suspicious and indicative of the involvement of influential people who were trying to protect the accused.
Describing the attack as a grave violation of human rights, the Samiti demanded immediate arrest of all the accused and protection of the victim and her family. They warned that the Samites would stage protests outside the police commissioner’s office if justice was denied and the case was not investigated in a transparent and timely manner.
Published – 12 Feb 2026 21:31 IST