Following reports of a number of sexual assaults at the Marion Bay leg of last year’s Falls Festival, police have again been called to the festival grounds amidst report that another punter has been indecently assaulted at this year’s event.
As Fairfax reports, the 19-year-old female victim was allegedly assaulted by an unknown man during a set by The Jungle Giants at around 9:30pm Friday night.
Police have announced that they are currently looking to interview anyone who may have witnessed the event as it occurred, in addition to the two other Falls Festival attendees who helped the victim out of the mosh pit following the incident.
“Police and event organisers condemn the behaviour and are urging those joining the mosh pit to stay with friends and if you become isolated or feel unsafe at any time to seek assistance from the nearest police officer or event security,” a statement from Tasmanian police read.
“The key message is that although there’s close contact in the mosh pit, any form of touching without the other person’s consent is not OK,” it continued. “We want patrons to feel safe and enjoy the event so we urge anyone witnessing this kind of behaviour to report it immediately.”
As News Corp notes, festival co-producer Paul Piticco also made a statement in regards to the incident, noting, “We have been made aware of these complaints, and have been told by police these are allegations at this point, until the police have concluded their investigations, we are unable to comment.”
Troy Hodge, a senior sergeant with Tasmania police referred to the number of incidents at last year’s Falls Festival in an interview with the ABC, stating that a number of plain-clothes police officers are in attendance at this hear’s event.
“The mosh pit, yes it is designed for close contact, people crowding in,” he explained. “What we saw last year was deliberate acts of assaults and that’s the behaviour we don’t want to tolerate.”
“Police will be there [in the mosh pit] supervising — they might have a slight jig or two — but they’ll be just there supervising the mosh pit,” he said. “Inappropriate behaviour or behaviour that makes someone feel uncomfortable won’t be tolerated.”
