Self-Proclaimed Moral Policing Officer Receives Backlash After Harassing Actress At A Bengaluru Park
Viral outrage erupts as public stands against unsolicited rule enforcer’s aggressive acts.
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Image Credits: samyuktha_hegde / Instagram / Source: Times Of India
We live in a country where freedom of expression (Article 19) is the right of every citizen of the country. This gives people the right to do what they choose to (within legal bounds) in public spaces. As long as people mind their own business and go about their day, peace is maintained. Unfortunately, we also live in a country where there are many people out there who create havoc under the name of “morality”. One such person was Kavitha Reddy, who decided it was her duty to go and lecture and later assault one of three women at Agara Park, Bengaluru. Kavitha Reddy is now being branded as the “Indian Karen” on social media. One of the women, Samyuktha Hegde happens to be an actress and the women managed to record the attack. Here’s what happened:
In This Article
Minding Their Own Business
According to Samyuktha, the woman, who happens to be an active politician, approached them while they were hula-hooping in the park and started objecting to their workout clothes. Samyuktha, who was working out in a regular exercise sports bra objected to Kavitha’s claims that they were “cabaret dancing”. Kavitha accuses the women of dancing indecently and starts shaming them for their choice of clothing. When one of the girls asked Kavitha why she was abusing them, she lunged forward to attack her and got caught doing so on camera.
What made matters worse, was that the girls were surrounded and heckled by a group of men, led by Kavitha. When the police arrived, they seemed to side with the group of moral policers rather than a horrified Samyuktha and her friends. Samyuktha said, “When we were waiting for the police to arrive some people in the park who knew her started supporting her and playing moral police and asking us if it is our culture to wear sportswear. About 10 men with her arrived right before the police did and started threatening us. They threatened to destroy our careers and the police stood there and just watched” (1).
Quick Thinking
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Samyuktha, like many millennials, was armed with a device that could help her receive the justice she deserved. The actress went live on Instagram and recorded the entire incident as well as the harassment from Kavitha Reddy and her gang of moral policing goons. In the video, Kavitha can be heard accusing Samyuktha and her friends of “dancing naked” and behaving “immorally”. An emotional Samyuktha then places her camera on the ground, takes off her pullover, and reveals a perfectly normal workout sports bra. The men in the video are no less and threaten the actress stating that they would lodge a case against her for drug abuse.
Considering how sensitive the atmosphere is currently surrounding the topic of drugs, the actress addressed the audience and asked them why they were accusing them falsely. As the live continued, things seemed to get worse and Samyuktha and her friends were locked in the park by park officials. Samyuktha is seen trying to grab the lock and asking the people locking them in why they are doing so. She was also injured by a member of the crowd who hit her across her hand. During the scary incident, Samyuktha and her friend found solace in a few men who supported the girls and told the police that they had done nothing wrong. One of the men even asked the police why they were not asking men wearing shorts to leave the park as those are also considered “revealing”.
A Bitter Battle On Social Media
Kavitha Reddy however decided to paint a completely different and false one-sided view of the story on her social media. She claimed that she had no issues with the girls and objected to them playing loud music and “abusing at the guards”. She claimed that the girls had lied and painted only their side of the story and that Samyuktha was doing all of this for a publicity stunt. The Kirik Party actress and her friends denied all claims and there is zero evidence of them doing anything she had suggested above. In fact, in the live video, we can actually hear Kavitha Reddy commenting on the outfits of the women.
Kavitha Reddy had claimed that since she is a cyclist and wears shorts, she couldn’t moral police however her social media posts on this matter said otherwise. Soon, people were flooding her comment section demanding her to apologize for her actions and Samyuktha filed an FIR against her for assault. Kavitha Reddy later released a letter as well as a video apology to Samyuktha Hegde for her actions. Samyuktha accepted Kavitha’s apology and tweeted out, “Apologies accepted Ms. Kavitha Reddy. I hope we can all move forward from the incident and make women feel safe everywhere.” She also thanked her advocates for their support in the case (2).
The Internet Finds A New Karen
Kavitha Reddy is now being dubbed as “The Indian Karen” and “Boomer Auntie” by Millennials and Gen Z-ers on the internet. A Karen is a woman (usually a white American) who is obnoxious, entitled, and often racist. They are a viral phenomenon on the internet and people often share videos of them randomly lashing out or threatening them in the video.
When she does it , it’s right ! But when @SamyukthaHegde wears a sports wear it’s against the culture, improper dressing in public and she even told they were stripping in public? If that’s stripping then what’s this?! pic.twitter.com/kvUfWwCb8L
— Surya Prakash (@suryaelvino) September 5, 2025
Many took to the comments sections of Kavitha’s Twitter account to share images of her wearing bicycle shorts and asking her why she hasn’t “dressed appropriately” in a saree. Some people even made memes of her with badly drawn sarees photoshopped on her cycling photos and wrote, “Fixed it for you”.
Kavitha Reddy took down all the posts she had shared on social media after issuing the apology. However, the sad reality is that there are many people in this country who support such reckless and violent acts of moral policing and the justice system needs to do a better job of controlling them. Regardless of what a woman or a man decides to wear in public, nothing calls for violence. Whether they are wearing just a lungi or a bikini top, it is not for us to decide the rules of morality and violence is never a justifiable act. Do let us know your thoughts on this article in the comment section below.
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