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16-year-old schoolgirl gangraped in Karnataka, four detained: Police
One of the accused, an acquaintance of the girl, arrived in a car with some friends, abducted the girl and took her to a secluded place, where they assaulted her sexually, police said
Bengaluru
A 16-year-old schoolgirl was gangraped by five men in Bantwal taluk of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, police said on Saturday. Four people have been detained.
The incident happened around 7 am on Friday when the survivor was going to school, according to the complaint filed at Bantwal police station. One of the accused, an acquaintance of the girl, arrived in a car with some friends, abducted the girl and took her to a secluded place, where they assaulted her sexually, the police complaint said.
The survivor is receiving treatment, and a medical examination report is awaited, police said.
“Total four accused have been taken into custody till now. Two of them have been accused of rape. Further investigation is going on,” said Rishikesh Sonawane, superintendent of police in Dakshina Kannada.
The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian penal code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, at Bantwal police station, an official said on condition of anonymity. Police is trying to trace a fifth person, he said.
The assault took place barely two months after a woman was raped by drunk men on August 24 in Chamundi Hills, a tourist spot in Mysuru, about 125 km from Bengaluru.
Karnataka registered 504 cases of rape in 2020, compared with 2,061 cases in Maharashtra, 1,128 in West Bengal, 997 in Delhi, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. The southern state registered 2,253 cases of kidnapping, compared with 9,309 in West Bengal, 8,103 in Maharashtra, 4,063 in Delhi and 2,056 in Telangana.
