Indecent exposure on public road: Women catch accused youth from men’s hostel

KOCHI: A group of women students, with the help of their friends, tracked down and caught a man who allegedly exposed himself to them while they were walking from their hostel to a nearby tea shop at night.

The incident took place around 10.30 pm on Saturday on Pavathil Road in Ayyappankavu, Ernakulam. Three students from Palakkad, Alappuzha and Kannur, who were staying at a nearby women's hostel, were walking towards Ayyappankavu when the incident occurred. According to the complaint, the man followed the women before suddenly stepping in front of them and allegedly exposing himself. The students raised an alarm, prompting the accused to flee.

CCTV footage helped identify accused
The women filed a complaint with North Police and, with the help of their friends, began their own search for the accused. With the assistance of the Pavathil Residents' Association, they examined CCTV footage from the area and found visuals of the man following them.

The footage also showed that the accused had followed the women the previous day, indicating that the act may have been planned in advance. Police said he followed the women while pretending to talk on his mobile phone.

Accused was staying at men's hostel
The man seen in the CCTV footage was identified as Anoop (34), a native of Vattappara in Thiruvananthapuram, who was staying at a men's hostel on Citizen Road. After learning that he had returned to the hostel, the women and their male friends went there on Monday night and caught him. He was later handed over to North Police after being allegedly assaulted by locals and others.

When police reached the Ayyappankavu area, they took a resident of Semitherimukku, who was accompanying the women's friends, into preventive custody to prevent the situation from escalating. Anoop was taken to the police station after undergoing a medical examination.