An 18-year-old girl in Kochi has alleged that she faced sexual assault at a popular tattoo studio in the city, sparking outrage across social media. Soon after she shared her ordeal in a Reddit post, several women came up to claim that they also had similar experience from the same tattoo artist over the last couple of years.
The police has started a preliminary investigation, but is yet to file a case as they haven't received any formal complaint against the accused. The tattoo parlor is found locked and the accused is believed to be absconding.
As per the victim's Reddit post, the incident happened a week ago when she visited the studio to get a tattoo done on her lower back. She alleged as the tattooing was progressing, the man started making vulgar comments, touched her private parts and sexually assaulted her.
"I was also a bit scared because he had a needle on my spine... Then he started holding my stomach for support and pulling me towards him. That's when my instinct kicked in, but I was terrified of moving and I never thought he'd have the audacity to do something," her post said.
“I didn’t speak a word. I didn’t say stop. I didn’t say no. I just felt like dying right there on the spot for being so stupid. I felt disgusted,” she further wrote.
As the post went viral, several women came out narrating similar experience from the same tattoo studio.
Police said they needed the girl's statement to register a case. City Police Commissioner C.H. Nagaraju told media that they had contacted the girl and she said she wanted to consult her parents before lodging a complaint.
