Mysuru: Karnataka police probing the Mysuru gang rape have arrested the seventh accused in the case, the police sources said Wednesday. The accused will be produced before a court and his custody will be sought for further investigations.
The accused was picked from Tamil Nadu late Tuesday. The police department had deputed a special team to nab him based on the clues by other co-accused. The 7th accused had switched off his mobile and disappeared after the August 24 crime at an isolated place near the foothills of Chamundi hills.
The police officers stationed in Tamil Nadu had kept a close tab on his relatives, family members and friends and finally a fortnight after the incident managed to secure him.
The other six accused have already been produced before the 3rd JMFC court on Tuesday as their 10-day police custody ended.
The court has remanded five accused persons to 14-day judicial custody. The accused have been sent to Mysuru central jail, while a minor accused was sent to a juvenile home.
The police sources said the victim is yet to record her statements regarding the incident, given her traumatised condition.
The Congress party has decided to raise the issue in the upcoming assembly session after it completed its own parallel probe into the incident and came up with 19 recommendations.
The committee headed by former MP V.S. Ugrappa has demanded that the police department should record the statement of the victim immediately and in case of rejection, legal action should be initiated against her under IPC section 202. The speedy investigations have to be taken up and accused should be paraded before the victim. Charge sheet has to be filed before the court on time and accused should be punished within a span of 5 months.
The government should come with a law for holding jurisdictional district commissioner and superintendent of police responsible in such cases. The party also demanded the resignation of Home Minister Araga Jnanendra for failing to prevent the crime.
The incident took place on August 24 evening, when the victim had gone to an isolated place near the foothills of Chamundi hills along with her male friend. The accused, who had noticed couple frequenting the area, took them hostage and demanded Rs 3 lakh ransom.
When they failed to give the money, the accused took turns to rape the victim. They also assaulted the male friend. The accused had forced the youth to call his family for money. The family members rushed to the spot and shifted the victim and her friend to a hospital.
The case made national headlines and the state police department came under intense pressure. Protests broke out all over the state demanding the arrest of the accused. The police managed to arrest 5 accused rapists within 84 hours of the incident and have now taken the other 2 accused persons also into custody.
The victim, who is under trauma is yet to record her statement and the government has stated that it will not force her for the statement until she is in a condition to speak. The police department claimed that the victim will cooperate as the investigation progresses. She has already identified her attackers from photographs.