'Cleavage jibe in Kannada': Bengaluru woman runner harassed by minors, asks - ‘Must I now fear children aged 10, 12 and 13?’

• Female runner in Bengaluru faces taunts from young boys during morning run
• Her video sparked debate on casual misogyny and children's social influences
• Social media split between support for her stance and criticism of her account

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A routine morning run in a forested area near Bengaluru has erupted into a fierce national debate after a female runner documented an unsettling encounter with a group of young boys, questioning the very roots of casual misogyny.

The woman, who filmed her account post-run in Avalahalli Forest, described being subjected to repeated taunts and laughter from what she estimated to be three boys aged between ten and thirteen. Though she does not understand Kannada, the local language, she stated the intent was unmistakable.

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A post shared by Ritika Suryavanshi (@ritika_suryavanshi10)

“If someone makes a taunting remark and laughs at you, you’ll understand, right?” she said in the video, gesturing towards her chest. “They all started laughing, so I turned around and looked at them very angrily.”

Initially choosing to ignore them, she said the behaviour persisted. “They all stopped and were laughing amongst themselves. They were saying something about my breasts. Then I got angry,” she recounted. When she turned to confront them, the primary instigator fled. She stated she scolded him, telling him to “learn some manners.”

The runner, dressed in sweatpants, a sports bra and a tank top, emphasised her attire was normal athletic wear. “There’s nothing wrong with these clothes. I know it’s quite normal for me,” she asserted.

Moving beyond the immediate incident, the runner framed it as a symptom of a deeper societal failure. “The biggest question is, where are these children learning all these things from?” she asked. “Obviously, they are learning it from their homes, from the people around them. Sometimes even the fathers. This is considered normal.”

She lamented a perceived decline in basic manners and posed a troubling rhetorical question: “Now, do I also have to worry about little kids and think that I shouldn’t wear certain clothes because I might get comments from children too? Children can also pass comments.”

The video, widely shared across social media platforms, has cleaved public opinion. Many users supported her stance, seeing the incident as a stark illustration of ingrained sexism. One comment read, “The comments... are proving her right about ‘bad upbringing and social influences’. Read the comments and realise we’re surrounded by closet eve-teasers, molesters, rapists and monsters!”

However, a significant portion of the response was critical of the runner. Some blamed external influences on the children, with one user arguing, “They are kids mam they now have internet access, they watch this every day now.” Others directly challenged her account: “A feminist jogging in Avalahalli Forest says some underage boys made comments in language she doesn’t even understand and instantly blames their upbringing and fathers.”

The criticism often pivoted to her clothing and the veracity of her story. Comments included, “Don’t understand kannada but she understood what the boys said in Kannada,” and “One-sided clips don’t tell the full story.” Another stated, “She blamed everyone but not understanding if you show something, people will look, else wear decent clothes.”