Chennai: Karnataka police arrested four people for allegedly kidnapping and gangraping a minor girl in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada on Saturday. 


According to a report in The News Minute, the incident had come to light after the 16-year-old schoolgirl came forward to lodge a complaint with the police officials. The arrested persons are identified as KS Sharath Shetty, Maruthi Manjunath, Lodge Sathish, and Idayat Ulla.


Quoting a statement from the police department, the report said that one of the accused had introduced himself to the victim through one of the social media platforms and then introduced her to his relative. The relative who had started talking to the girl on WhatsApp had allegedly sent obscene videos to her. 


According to the police statement, the accused had invited the victim to Mangaluru to meet him and when she had gone to meet him, he had taken her to a lodge on the pretext of taking rest and raped her. He then called his friend to the lodge and allowed him to rape her. One of the lodge authorities had also sexually assaulted the victim. 


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The report further informed that Karnataka police have arrested all the four accused under sections 366 (a) (procuration of minor girl), 376(d) (intercourse by any member of the management or staff of a hospital with any woman in that hospital), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 4 (Punishment for penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act. 


The state women’s commission president Pramila Naidu had asked the police department to take immediate action against the accused and provide safety to the victim. She has also directed the district women and child welfare department to assist the victim.