A day after she was sexually assaulted, an autorickshaw driver registered a complaint against the rape survivor for alleged rash driving.
Published Aug 20, 2024 | 7:46 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 20, 2024 | 8:56 PM
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In a disturbing turn of events, a 21-year-old undergraduate student in Bengaluru was raped by a choreographer when she hitched a ride to return home after her vehicle broke down. The incident took place in the wee hours of Sunday, 18 August.
The undergraduate student who is allegedly from a different state and according to police officials, she hitched a ride because she met with an accident and had to leave behind her vehicle. Now, she has found herself at the centre of a controversy as she has been booked on charges of rash driving, based on a complaint from an auto-driver.
She was allegedly raped when she was on her way home from a pub in Koramangala when the accused took her to a secluded spot in the HSR layout and assaulted her. While the woman has been discharged from the hospital and is now under the custody of her parents, the accused choreographer was arrested within 10 hours of the complaint being filed.
A day after she was sexually assaulted, on 19 August, an autorickshaw driver registered a complaint against the rape survivor for alleged rash driving in the area coming under Adugodi Traffic Police Station.
A 24-year-old choreographer raped the girl on the pretext of giving her a lift on his two-wheeler in the wee hours on Sunday. The accused has been identified as M Mukeshwaran, a choreographer by profession and residing in Bengaluru. The survivor is a final year BBA student in a private college in Bengaluru.
According to police: “A woman was returning home with her friend in a car from Koramangala. She hit an autorickshaw on the way and left the accident spot. She met the accused while she was seeking a lift.”
“Mukeshwaran was searching for cigarettes to buy after partying with his friends when the girl stopped him. On the pretext of giving her a lift, he took her to a remote place and sexually assaulted the undergraduate student. Sensing the danger she was in, the girl alerted her friends and shared her location. By the time her friends reached the location, she had been molested by the accused,” explained police officials.
“Though the survivor’s friends attempted to confront the accused, he managed to flee the scene. She was then soon rushed to the hospital,” they added.
A case was registered at the HSR Layout Police Station and the accused was booked under section 64 of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Bengaluru City Additional Commissioner Raman Gupta told reporters on Sunday: “Early morning between 1 an and 1.30 am, a rape incident was reported in HSR layout police station. A girl took a ride on two-wheeler girl at around 1 am in the night. The guy took her to an isolated place and assaulted and raped her,” said Gupta, who confirmed the physical assault on the survivor.
Within 10 hours of the case being reported in the HSR Layout PS on Sunday, the Bengaluru City Police sprung to action and arrested the accused. He had no previous cases against him.
The police diligently scanned over 100 CCTVs that have been installed in a 10-km stretch and identifying over 1,000 mobile numbers around the crime scene at late night on Sunday. DCP South East, Sarah Fathima told South First: “We had formed multiple teams to catch the accused. We succeeded in arresting him within 10 hours of the case being filed.”
“He is a choreographer by profession. He basically hails from Tamil Nadu but settled in Bengaluru for the past many years. He is a stranger to the rape survivor and there was no connection between both.
In a latest development, an FIR has been registered against the 21-year-old rape survivor on the charges of negligent driving at Adugodi Traffic Police Station.
The traffic police have booked the rape survivor after an autorickshaw driver named Ajaz A filed a complaint, accusing her of damaging his vehicle near Mangal junction.
In his complaint, Ajaz alleged: “On 17 August, I was driving my auto-rickshaw near Mangala Junction in Koramangala when a car driver, coming from Bombay Adda pub, recklessly took a U-turn and collided with the back of my vehicle.”
#Karnataka: In a development, an FIR has been registered on the 21-year-old rape survivor on the charges of rash driving as to endanger human life at Adugodi Traffic PS.
Based on the complaint of an autorickshaw driver Ajay Z, 47, an FIR has been registered under the section 281.
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) August 20, 2024
“The driver then reversed and hit another auto-rickshaw before fleeing the scene. The car sped towards Forum Mall, making it impossible for me to note the license plate number. We followed the car, it stopped at the signal near Forum Mall Junction, where I saw a woman driving with a male passenger. When I approached them to discuss repair charges for the damages to auto-rickshaws, they abandoned their car without a word,” he alleged.
“The police arrived, and we reported the incident. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the autos and car suffered damage,” Ajaz sought legal action against the car driver.
Following the complaint by Ajaz, the traffic police have booked an FIR under the section 281 of the Bharata Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 134(B) and 187 of the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Adugodi Traffic Police Inspector Ashok Kumar AN told South First: “We have filed an FIR based on the complaint received by the driver. In the accident, no injuries have been reported but the vehicles have been damaged. When enquired, the girl claimed that she had not consumed alcohol and went out for a dinner with a friend at Koramangala. She has been booked under the bailable offences. A day after the incident, we came to know that she was physically assaulted.”
He confirmed that no arrests have been made regarding the incident.
(Edited by Neena)
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