She was unaware that she was asking for problems when a technician asked for her home’s water purifier to be serviced. She claims that the technician who arrived to fix the problem sexually assaulted her, taking advantage of the fact that she was alone in the house. On May 4, 30-year-old Mihika (name changed) of Begur, southeast Bengaluru, submitted a service request to the manufacturer requesting that the water purifier be reinstalled.
She complained again to the service provider the following day when the technician did not show up. After then, at about 5:00 p.m., a technician arrived at her door, and she allowed him inside. The technician instructed her to keep the main switch off fifteen minutes later.
Following instructions, she entered the kitchen to finish up some other tasks. The technician crept in from behind and touched her while she was preoccupied, realizing she was by herself at home. Mihika, who was clearly shell shocked, yelled at him and threatened to harm him. He was unfazed, though. He continued to move in her direction and began inappropriately groping her.
After pushing him out of the kitchen, Mihika barricaded herself. She looked around and discovered her phone in the kitchen. She told a friend who lived close what had happened and asked for assistance over the phone as soon as possible. In just a few minutes, her friend raced to the house and discovered the technician waiting for Mihika to exit the kitchen by a window. The technician attempted to harm the friend when he was confronted. But he grabbed a stick and gave the technician a hard time. After the altercation, the technician began to bleed, realized he was trapped, and ran out of the house, leaving the tools he had brought to fix the water purifier behind.
Afterwards, Mihika went to the Begur police and reported him. When police called the technician’s telephone after obtaining his information from the company, he did not answer. When police tracked him down the following day, his family members informed them that he had not come home from work. They requested that police file a missing person’s complaint. He was on the run after pestering a woman sexually, the police told them, and they declined to file a missing person’s report. The accused was taken into custody by the police on Wednesday and questioned. He has been the subject of a case under IPC Section 354 A (sexual harassment), and an inquiry is currently underway.
