Three people have been reportedly detained by the Bengaluru police for questioning in the case of alleged gang-rape of a 22-year-old female BPO employee. The victim was allegedly kidnapped and raped by two men on a Tempo Traveler on Saturday night.
The police have now seized and sent a mini-bus, which they suspect was the vehicle in which the victim was raped, to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Madiwala, Bengaluru for tests.
Police sources said earlier that the incident allegedly occurred when the victim was waiting for transport near Ayyappa temple junction in Madiwala to return home. The woman hailed from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and was staying at a PG accommodation elsewhere along with her younger sister.
Police say that the accused persons, who came in a Tempo Traveller van, noticed the victim standing alone and waiting for a drop back home. They stopped the vehicle and asked the victim if she needed a drop. They reportedly told her that they are going the same way and offered to drop her.
After she boarded the vehicle, one of the accused threatened her with a knife and took her towards Domlur. They then went through Silk Board Junction, St Johns Hospital Road and other areas and then found an isolated area near Domlur, where they raped her.
Later, they brought her to the same place near Ayyappa Temple, dropped her off and fled from the scene. The miscreants also threatened the victim that they will eliminate her if she went to the police.
According to Bangalore Mirror, the victim worked on a four-hour shift from 5:30-9:30 pm and reportedly took BMTC buses to travel to and from work. On the day of the incident she walked to Hosur main road around 9:30 pm and was waiting for a BMTC bus to return home. However, she did not get a bus even after waiting for half an hour. This is when the Tempo Traveller pulled up in front of her, and asked her if she needed a drop.
The victim reportedly boarded the bus as there were other passengers onboard. The other passengers got off the bus before Ayyappaswamy temple bus stop near Madiwala police station, where the victim intended to alight.
The victim, unfamiliar with the roads, did not realise when the bus passed her destination and continued down a one-way road.
It is then that the man standing in front of the footboard allegedly shut all the windows and threatened to throw her off the bus if she raised an alarm.
The victim, who had been raped for nearly three hours, contacted one of her friends after the incident and was rushed to a private hospital. She was admitted in the hospital for treatment.
Police sources say that the Madiwala police have taken up the case and investigating the matter to trace the accused. Police have collected CCTV footage from major traffic junctions in the area to trace the vehicle and the accused duo.
DCP Rohini Katoch-Sepat told The Times of India that they have definite clues in the case and the men would be arrested soon. CCTV footage at all signals along the route taken by the vehicle are being analysed. The vehicle bore an Indiranagar RTO registration board. Madiwala police have taken up the case.
Police commissioner NS Megharikh told The Times of India that it was a case of sexual assault and he is yet to ascertain whether it was indeed a gang rape. Home department sources said the family declined to file a complaint but had to be convinced into doing so.
Her statement was recorded by a judicial magistrate on Monday.
(The story appeared on The News Minute)