BANGALORE: A 31-year-old man was on Thursday arrested for raping his neighbour’s minor daughter for three months and getting her pregnant in Sriramapuram. Unable to bear the stigma, the 15-year-old ran away from home but was recued by cops. The arrest comes a day after a 23-year-old youth was held for a similar offence in Kengeri.
The Sriramapuram victim is two months pregnant, while the Kengeri girl is five months into her pregnancy.
The class X student had fled from her house out of fear on Monday after realizing that she was pregnant. Her father, a cab driver, filed a missing complaint with Sriramapuram police the next day.
Later in the night, the victim called up her mother’s cell phone. The family immediately contacted the police. The number from which the girl had called was traced to a public call booth in Hosur. A police team rushed to Hosur and rescued the girl, who was alone at the bus stand.
Asked how she ended up in Hosur, the girl had no immediate answers. She soon broke down. A few officers said the parents did not want the police to talk to their only daughter and wanted to end the case there. But police persisted, took the girl into confidence and counselled her.
During counselling, the girl told police that Arun Kumar, their landlord, raped her and got her pregnant. The girl’s family was staying on the first floor of Arun’s building on rent for the past few years.
Arun, a used car dealer and father of two daughters, stayed on the ground floor of the building. He befriended the girl and promised to marry her before sexually exploiting her.
Police arrested Arun on the girl’s statement and booked him under Section 376 of IPC for rape. He was produced before the 7{+t}{+h} ACMM court on Thursday afternoon and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
The girl underwent tests at Vani Vilas Hospital. The police will send the girl to Nimhans for counselling. They said the girl is too young and had undergone huge trauma. They said the girl and accused will be subjected to DNA test soon.
