Two youngsters who hailed an auto to eve tease girls at a college ended up thrashing the auto driver who asked them to pay the fare.
Parappana Agrahara resident Manjunath, 49, told police in his complaint that he was driving his auto in Ambedkar Colony near Kudlu around 5 pm on Wednesday when the duo hired him for a ride to KR Puram and back.
Manjunath rode them to A Narayanapura, where the duo stopped him near a private college. As the auto waited, the duo harassed girls and passed lewd comments. Forty-five minutes later, some girls brought their male friend to confront the duo. On noticing a large group, they asked Manjunath to drop them back at Ambedkar Colony.
On the way, they stopped the auto at a tea stall and ate snacks. They took Rs 300 from Manjunath’s pocket vowing to return the money with the fare. They asked the driver to drop them at Huskur saying one of their mothers would pay him.
Manjunath felt odd as the place they directed him was deserted and dark. He refused to ride to Huskur and said he would drop them at Kudlu. The duo alighted the auto at 8.15 pm near Kudlu’s Shiva temple and refused to pay. When Manjunath asked, they abused, thrashed, and issued threats.
As the duo left, Manjunath took his friend Suresh’s help to get admitted in the hospital, where he was treated for injuries to his ribs, abdomen, spine, and ears.
A senior officer said an assault case has been registered at the Parappana Agrahara police station and efforts are on to nab the duo.