Manipal, Jun 21: In a shocking incident, a 22-year-old medical student was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by three people, including an auto driver, when she was on way to her flat from the college library late on Thursday.
The victim is a fourth-year MBBS student of the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.
The victim's family, who lives in the neighbouring state of Kerala, have been informed about the incident and told to rush to Manipal to take care of her, as she is recovering from injuries on her hands and neck.
The incident occurred when the victim, was waiting to hire an auto outside the Manipal University campus gate to return to her flat from the library around 11.30 p.m.
The victim said in the complaint that she was abducted by the accused, driven to an isolated spot and gang-raped after midnight. Though she managed to reach her flat later, she gave the complaint early Friday.
"We have registered a criminal case against unidentified people under sections 366 and 376 (abduction and rape) read with 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint by the victim earlier in the day to the local police station," Udupi Superintendent of Police MB Boralingaiah said.
"We have formed four teams to nab the accused and made some headway in the investigation on the basis of the information the victim gave in her complaint and after questioning one of the college security guards," Boralingaiah said.
"We have written to the state government to set up a police check-post at the university campus to prevent such crimes," the SP said, adding that the university was also asked to install CCTVs in and around the campus for the safety and security of its students.
Expressing shock over the incident Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj demanded the police to take immediate steps to arrest the three persons who had sexually assaulted a medical student.
He told pressperson here that the police had collected information on the sexual assault. Many police officers were working on the case. He had spoken to the in-charge IGP (Western Range) Abhishek Goyal and the Superintendent of Police M.B. Boralingaiah on the issue.
There are 20 autorickshaw stands in Manipal and there are 800 autorickshaw drivers. The police had urged autorickshaw drivers to provide any information available on the sexual assault. The police were confident of arresting the culprits soon. The incident was a blot on the name of Manipal. “I will talk to Home Minister K.J. George and urge him to take immediate action on this issue,” he said.
Mr. Madhwaraj said that both Manipal University and the police together should improve the security on the university campus.
Comments
Add new comment