Karnataka DG and IGP Praveen Sood on Saturday announced that the special investigating teams probing Mysuru gang rape case have arrested five persons including a juvenile from Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu. One accused is still absconding and the hunt is on to nab him at the earliest, he said.
The incident of gang rape had taken place in the outskirts of Mysuru at the foothills of Chamundi hill near Lalitadripura locality on August 24. The gang had assaulted the girl and had demanded Rs 3 lakh ransom. When they did not get the money, the accused had gang raped the college girl.
"The youth and the girl who were in almost unconscious state were picked up and hospitalized by the father of the boy who came to the spot in a car worrying about their safety after the call," police sources said.
"The special teams have secured the arrest of the accused without the statement from the victim, mostly relying on the technical and scientific evidence," Praveen Sood said.
The accused have studied up to 7 and 8 standard and some are drop outs. One of them is a juvenile. However, it is yet to be confirmed in the further investigations. The accused youths are coolies, drivers, wiremen and carpenters, said Praveen Sood.
All the accused came to Mysuru vegetable market often and consumed alcohol as well as partied before going back to their native place in Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, they found the couple in the way and targeted them on the fateful day, he said. "They had demanded Rs 3 lakh ransom from the couple," he added.
Blind case: Praveen Sood
"It was a blind case. The investigations have to be conducted on technical and scientific evidence. ADGP (Law and Order) Pratap Reddy monitored the investigation by stationing in Mysuru for four days," he said.
The accused have criminal background and a lot of investigation is needed to be done in the case. It is difficult to say the rape was planned. Rape is rape. We will file the charge sheet in the case as early as possible and request the court to expedite the process of convicting the accused persons, he said.
Mysuru still remains as the safest city in the country and let's not paint it in the same brush to taint the image of the cultural capital of the state, he added.
The police department did not get any clues from the victim. "I am confident that the victim will come forward to cooperate during trials. Detection is the first stage. We have done it. Securing conviction is the second stage, we will get it done," he stated.
"We are in touch with the parents of the victim and we have confidence that they will cooperate," he underlined.
Meanwhile, the sources in the police department confirmed that the victim has been taken to the native state by her parents. "She is still in an utter state of shock. Four days after the incident, her condition has not improved. The legal experts and senior police officers also opined that the victim might recover in the company of her parents at native place soon," the sources said.
Help gang-rape victim from Mumbai, Yuva Sena asks K'taka CM, DGP
The Yuva Sena, youth wing of the ruling Shiv Sena, on Saturday appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Director-General of Police Praveen Sood to render help to an MBA student from Mumbai who was gang-raped in Mysuru.
In separate letters to the CM and DGP of the neighbouring state, Yuva Sena Secretary Durga Bhosle-Shinde, Core Committee members Suprada Phatarpekar, Sheetal Sheth and Subhashini Thevar expressed "deep anguish" over the incident on the 23-year-old survivor.
"The victim's condition is critical, as reported by media. An assault on a woman anywhere is an assault on humanity," said the Yuva Sena team, urging to provide her the best medicare, besides urgent and strict action against the perpetrators.
"The heinous gang-rape has shaken us all and shameful comments from the Home Minister of Karnataka (Araga Jnanendra) has shocked us further," commented Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, endorsing the Yuva Sena initiative.
The Yuva Sena pointed out that the victim and her friend had informed the police that they had made videos of the incident which they threatened to make viral if the couple approached the law-enforcers.
The woman was sexually assaulted by at least four-five men in a deserted location near the Chamundi Hills in Mysuru, while her male friend was brutally hammered.
Both are hospitalized and the woman, whose condition was serious, is reported to be improving with treatment in a hospital.
(With inputs from IANS)
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