2 yrs after unmarried woman gave birth to child, cheater' jailed for 4 months

June 24, 2016

Mangaluru, Jun 24: A 38-year-old man, who raped her 20-year-old neighbour and then promised her of marriage to continue regular sex, has been sentenced to four months imprisonment by a local court here.

The victim, who hails from a village near Belthagady, had complained against Maila alias Mailappa only after he began to ignore her after she became pregnant.

While pronouncing judgment the sixth additional district and session's court judge D T Puttarangaswamy, however, acquitted Maila of rape charges as he deemed it to be a case of consensual sex.

In January 2014, when the woman's parents had gone out to work, Maila called her to his backyard. He then raped her and asked her not to tell about the incident to anybody with the promise of marrying her shortly. Maila took advantage of the woman in the same manner on two other occasions. When she became pregnant and informed Maila, he started ignoring and avoiding her.

Afraid at the social and parental fallout of her situation, the woman left her house without informing her parents and joined a house in Bantwal as a domestic help. Worried at their daughter going missing, her parents filed a missing person's complaint with Puttur rural police and this was published in newspapers. The owner of the house where she worked read this news and brought her before the police on August 3, 2014.

The woman then narrated the circumstances and also filed a complaint accusing Maila of sexually assaulting her. Meanwhile, she gave birth to a boy on September 26, 2014. Based on her complaint, police arrested Maila, took his blood samples and that of the child for DNA analysis, which proved that the accused was the biological father of the child.

Prosecutor Judith O M Crasta examined as many as 23 witnesses, including the forensic scientist who carried out DNA analysis.

Maila was also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000, finding him guilty of cheating. Out of this, the survivor will get Rs 8,000. The judge also directed Maila to pay Rs 40,000 as compensation to the child and the District Legal Services Authority to pay compensation to the woman as per Karnataka Victim Compensation Scheme.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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