Five students accused in the gang-rape of a girl student from the same private college in Puttur were arrested in swift action by district police on Wednesday.
The arrested are: Gurunandan (19) of Bajathoor village in Puttur taluk; Prajwal (19) and Kishan (19) of Perne village in Bantwal taluk; Sunil of Aryapu village in Puttur taluk and Prakhyath (19) of Barimar village in Bantwal taluk. They have been arrested and are likely to be produced in the court in Puttur on Thursday, sources told DH.
The gang-rape of the student hailing from a Scheduled Tribes community had gone unreported to police, until one among the accused tested his luck too far by uploading a video clipping of the heinous act on social media on Tuesday. The district’s Cyber wing quickly detected the video and the women police station in Puttur on the directions of Superintendent of Police B Laxmi Prasad registered suo motu case.
The police swung into action to ensure that the video clipping did not go viral on social media. SP Laxmi Prasad warned against the sharing or downloading of the explicit videos on phones or computers as it was an offence under sections 354C of the IPC and 66E, 66A of IT Act. “All those caught (including group admins) will be made the accused under the said sections,” SP had warned.
Prasad told DH that the gang rape had taken place in March this year. The accused youth, all studying in the same college, had taken her to a secluded area and had raped her by turns. The victim studying in the first year of the degree course did not seek help from police as the students had issued life threats and had threatened to make the video viral on social media.
“After we had registered suo motu the case, the victim reluctantly came to the police station to file a complaint,” SP said. This is the second gang rape case to have sent shock ripples across the district.