3 arrested for killing 73-year-old man who allegedly raped 16-yr-old cousin: Cop

The accused, a 73-year-old, lived in the same building in Bengaluru’s Hennur area as the 16-year-old rape survivor

BENGALURU: Three men have been arrested on charges of killing a 73-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted a minor girl in north Bengaluru’s Hennur area on Sunday night, police said on Tuesday.

The girl stepped out to pick up the washed clothes that she had hung out to dry when the old man convinced her to accompany him to his room on the building’s first floor. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police said the deceased was a construction worker from Tamil Nadu who lived in the same neighbourhood as the 16-year-old girl.

The girl stepped out to pick up the washed clothes that she had hung out to dry when the old man convinced her to accompany him to his room on the building’s first floor.

Deputy commissioner of police (East) Bheemashankar S Guled told reporters the man was an acquaintance of the girl’s family and had been living in the neighbourhood for many years.

At his house, he gave her something to drink. She later told the police that she fell unconscious soon after.

Police said the family members of the girl panicked when she did not return and began to knock on every door in the vicinity. It was during this exercise that they found the girl lying unconscious and half-naked inside the old man’s house.

Her family members rushed the girl to a nearby hospital. When she regained consciousness, she told them that the man sexually assaulted her.

Her family members rushed back to the man’s house to confront him and started thrashing him, Guled said. They later also filed a sexual assault case against the man at the Hennur police station.

Guled said when police personnel went to the rape accused’s house, they found him lying unconscious on the floor. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Police said a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was registered against the accused. A murder case was also registered for murder against the girl’s cousin, the cousin’s friend and another relative who allegedly thrashed the accused.

Police said they are waiting for the autopsy report for a conclusive finding on the cause of the man’s death.