Deralakatte forced sex case: Goonda act invoked against accused

Mangaluru, Dec 8: Mangaluru police have invoked Goonda Act against Safan Hussain, an accused in the forced sex case of Deralakatte medical student occurred two years ago.

Eight people had kidnapped the two medical students, a male and a female on December 18, 2013. The group forced the couple to have sexual intercourse with each other and videographed the act on their mobile phone. Later, they demanded money from the students by threatening to upload the footage on social media. The students agreed to pay Rs 3 lakh, and the gang released the girl. However, the girl approached the police, who succeeded in arresting all the eight accused.

Safan (31) was one among the eight accused arrested in the case following a hot chase by a team of policemen and advocate Asha Nayak.

Mangaluru City Police Commissioner S. Murugan said apart from the sexual assault of the medical student, Safan was involved in as many as 19 other criminal cases reported in the last 10 years. It includes cases of robbery, murder, rioting, attempt to murder, dacoity, and assault of police officers. Safan was a rowdy element, he said.

Mr. Murugan said a report was sent to the State government invoking the Goonda Act on November 21.

The government gave concurrence on November 28. Following this, Safan was moved to the Ballari Central Prison. The decision to invoke Goonda Act will be reviewed by a committee headed by a Karnataka High Court Judge, he said.

In all, the city police have so far invoked the provisions of the Goonda Act against five persons. The accused against whom the provisions are invoked have to be kept in a separate enclosure for a particular period.

The city police first invoked Goonda Act provisions against underworld operative Pradeep Mendon on September 3, 2013. Then it was Illiyas, the head of target gang that was allegedly involved in extorting wealthy persons by taking photographs of them in compromising positions with women, on February 4, 2014. It was invoked against Keshav Poojary, alias Chony, from Ullal on October 30, 2014 for his alleged continuance in activities that in disturbs peace in the city. It was invoked against Manoj on November 1, 2014.

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