The Bengaluru police on Tuesday arrested All India Congress Committee member and civic activist Kavitha Reddy for assaulting, and harassing actor Samyuktha Hegde and her friends at the Agara Lake park last week. Later in the day, the actor tweeted that she did not wish to pursue the case against Kavitha Reddy although her apology was unsatisfactory.
Speaking to TNM, HSR Layout Police Inspector Muni Reddy, said that Kavitha Reddy was arrested and released on station bail as the sections she was charged with in the FIR were bailable and non-cognisable offences.
In a statement, Samyuktha Hegde said, “'I’ve consulted with my family and also keeping Kavitha Reddy's age in mind, I am not interested and don't want to pursue my case against her and I have formally requested the police yesterday about the same. However, I want to be clear: I still hope that strong action is taken against Anil Reddy and the others with him, who threatened and abused us at the park and made us feel so helpless.”
Hi everyone.
— Samyuktha Hegde (@SamyukthaHegde) September 8, 2020
I really really appreciate all the support I’ve been getting, all the love, all the posts, all the trolls, all the tweets that gave this voice an amplifier. You all have played such a major role in making this a nationwide impact
Regards,
Samyuktha Hegde pic.twitter.com/AeXJQBzAnf
She further stated that Kavitha Reddy’s apology was unsatisfactory and said that Kavitha seemed very casual about it and seemingly had issued it under pressure.
“Let's be clear, Kavitha Reddy apology was not satisfactory or genuine. She had not taken down her posts or tweets for 16 hours after issuing a public apology, which shows how casual she was about this apology and had clearly done this under pressure as it was affecting her public image and many of you have also pointed this out. However, I want the focus of this issue to not be on her or me or the incident, I hope this goes a small way in working on greater freedom for women everywhere,” Samyuktha Hegde added.
HSR Layout Police said that Samyuktha only wanted to retract allegations against Kavitha Reddy but not against the other accused including Anil Reddy, who had accused her of consuming drugs, while resorting to policing Samyuktha and her friends regarding the clothes they were wearing.
“However, I want to be clear. I still hope that strong action is taken against Anil Reddy and the others with him, who threatened and abused us at the park and made us feel so helpless. Nobody in the world has a right to make you feel like that and it will not be tolerated,” Samyuktha Hegde added.
Kavitha Reddy and several others, who were present at the park last Friday, had heckled and verbally abused Samyuktha Hegde and her friends for wearing joggers and sports bra while working out with hula hoops. Kavitha Reddy had called them “cabaret dancers”, who were “stripping in public”. In one video, Kavitha Reddy can be seen charging at Samyuktha and her friends. In an Instagram live recording by Samyuktha, Kavitha Reddy can be heard saying, “We will have to hit you if you wear such clothes.”
Anil Reddy who can be seen and heard in the video, threatens Samyuktha to inform the “media” that “she consumes drugs”. Samyuktha and her friends subsequently filed a complaint against them at HSR layout Police Station and an FIR was registered on Sunday.