Puttur: Police arrested five students belonging to a private college in Puttur of the Dakshina Kannada district for raping their college mate, a Dalit girl, in March this year. They were also suspended from college after the police informed the authorities about the arrest.
The arrested have been identified as Gurunandan and Sunil of Puttur and Prajwal, Kishan and Prakhyath from Bantwal. They are all aged 19 years, according to the police. The five were booked under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 376 (d) (gang rape) and under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and IT Act.
According to the police, the five allegedly took the girl in their cab and gang raped her in a forest area. They also allegedly recorded the brutal act and threatened to share it on social media if she told anyone about the incident. Although the incident occurred in March this year, it came to light this week after the video went viral.
After the video went viral, a district police registered a case at the Puttur women’s police station and district superintendent of police B M Laxmi Prasad warned the public against sharing the gruesome video on social media.
He warned, in a press release, that sharing the video would amount to a criminal offence under 354 (c) of IPC (Voyeurism) and provisions of the IT act.
