Bangalore's police chief said this week that authorities have not found any evidence of a "mass molestation" taking place in the south Indian city on New Year's Eve.

People in the country were angered by reports claiming that numerous women in the city center were sexually harassed and assaulted on Saturday evening.

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"People ran. There were a lot of girls there. There was panic, there was a melee, they got separated, they were crying. So that thirty seconds of confusion as a mass molestation," Police Chief Praveen Sood said, adding that he was categorical in his belief that no assaults on women took place.

The chief's assertion, however, is contrasting a report in one of the city's newspapers, which claimed that its journalists in the area witnessed firsthand the mass molestation of women.

The newspaper also published pictures of a woman pressed in by a group of men. And another photo showed a woman cowering on the shoulder of a female police officer.

A witness told journalists that he saw women being molested in the crowd. He added that people were trying to find hiding places to avoid being attacked.

"There were inhuman acts. People were acting like they were helping the women, but actually they were molesting them," witness Sammy Aqeel said, adding that he saw men insulting and provoking women and that any girl who was passing through the streets was at least being monitored by the men.

According to The Guardian, police are badly outnumbered considering that an estimated 60,000 people came around that night and only 1,600 officers were deployed.

"However, if such incidents did take place that night, we urge people to come forward and file complaints," Nagaraj, Cubbon Park police station's inspector, said.

TagsAsia, women's rights, women