Two weeks after a 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Mandya district of the state, the Karnataka Police filed a charge sheet in connection with the matter in a “record time” of 14 days, officials aware of the matter said.
The incident took place in Malavalli Taluk of Mandya district on October 11 when the accused, identified as Kantharaju, 51, called the minor girl on the pretext of taking a tuition class, sexually assaulted her, strangled her and threw the body in a water tank, police said.
Karnataka director general of police and inspector general of police (DG and IGP) Praveen Sood said, “The charge sheet was filed in a record time”.
“Law requires police to finalise such cases within 60 days but kudos to team Mandya who have done it in 14 days. Let’s work for speedy trial and conviction of the accused of this ghastly incident,” he tweeted.
Mandya superintendent of police N Yatish said: “The Malavalli police submitted a 683-page charge sheet to the Mandya sessions and district court on Tuesday within two weeks of the crime on October 11”.
“Realizing the sensitivity of the case, a special team was formed under Malavalli DySP Naveen Kumar. On Tuesday the charge sheet was submitted to the court by the investigation team,” the Mandya SP said.
{{/usCountry}}“Realizing the sensitivity of the case, a special team was formed under Malavalli DySP Naveen Kumar. On Tuesday the charge sheet was submitted to the court by the investigation team,” the Mandya SP said.
{{/usCountry}}“We collected all the witnesses and submitted a detailed charge sheet. We have also requested the appointment of a special public prosecutor for the case. A case has been registered against the accused under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), 376 (rape) and 326 (assault with weapons) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act,” Yatish said.
“The investigation was conducted in a transparent and scientific manner,” he added.
Investigation officer and deputy SP M Naveen Kumar said that the crime was not committed in the spur of the moment but was premeditated. “The accused used to give chocolates to the girl. A day before the incident, the minor had called him to ask if a tuition class was available. Accused Kantaraju told her that there is a class the next day in the morning. When the girl came to the tuition centre, the accused called her to the upper floor where he used to live,” said the officer.
“The accused gave her a chocolate and later took her to a house which was under construction near the tuition centre and assaulted her. After committing the rape, he thrashed her with a stone, strangled her with a wire and threw the body into a water tank. He also disposed off her clothes to remove the evidence,” he added.
The DySP said that the accused has a master’s degree in anthropology and was pursuing PhD. “But then he left his studies halfway and started working,” he said.
The accused had separated from his wife six years ago but was in touch with his two daughters, he said. “Later, he started working in the front office department of a software company. However, he quit the job within two months and came to Mandya to take up a job in the tuition centre,” he added.
A reward of ₹1 lakh has been announced for the investigation team.