A software engineer from North India working in Bengaluru shared this on Reddit, he was chased by a group of stray dogs in HSR Layout and when he tried to escape was treated like a criminal by the residents of the building he jumped into for safety. According to the post it happened at 11:02 PM. He was walking back when street dogs started chasing him.
“I ran and got cornered behind a car. I had two choices, jump over the car or jump the gate of the building behind me. I jumped the gate to save myself,” he wrote.
Residents Suspect Intrusion, Demand ‘Proof’
The Reddit user said that within seconds, residents confronted him — an older man aged between 55 and 65, a woman believed to be his daughter, and his wife. “I immediately apologised, told them I was chased by dogs, and explained I had no other option. My tone the whole time was apologetic,” he said.
“They didn’t believe me at all. They said, ‘Even if dogs were chasing you, why trespass? We don’t care about your situation.’ I still gave them my PAN number, Aadhaar number, address, and even showed my Darwinbox profile to prove I’m a software engineer here,” the post read.
Instead of accepting his explanation, the man alleged, the residents took his phone, saying they would return it only after verifying his story, possibly the next morning. “I asked them repeatedly to just check their CCTV and verify right then, or to call the police immediately. They refused both. For almost 30 minutes, they kept my phone while I stood there feeling completely helpless.”
CCTV Footage Confirms Story, Phone Returned
According to the post, the situation changed only when a neighbour agreed to check CCTV footage. The neighbour reportedly confirmed the man’s account, after which the older man returned his phone. “I thanked the neighbour and left,” he said.
The Reddit user also cited legal provisions, including Section 81 and Section 97 of the Indian Penal Code, which, he claimed, allow entry onto private property without permission to protect oneself from immediate danger. He further stated that keeping his phone without involving the police could amount to wrongful misappropriation of property under Section 403 IPC.
The post ends with the man saying the incident left him shaken. “I wasn’t breaking in to steal, I was escaping a direct threat,” he wrote, asking fellow Reddit users what he could have done differently and how to deal with both stray dogs and public suspicion in such situations.