Five persons have been arrested in the Mysuru gangrape case, Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood announced on Saturday, August 28. He said that the arrests were based on preliminary interrogations into the case. He added that one accused person who was arrested was a juvenile in this case and they are verifying his age. One other accused person in the case is still absconding. The DGP said all five accused belong to Tirupur in Tamil Nadu. They are from the labour class - they are working as drivers, carpenters, painters, he said.
The arrests come nearly four days after the crime. On Tuesday evening, the survivor, an MBA student, was traveling with her boyfriend to Chamundi hills when they were waylaid by a gang at around 7.30pm. The gang was reportedly drunk and had initially tried to extort money Rs 3 lakh from them. They then beat up the survivor’s boyfriend and then gangraped her.
"The accused initially tried to extort money from the complainant and the survivor but turned into an untoward incident. We did not have complete information since the survivor and the complainant were under treatment," Praveen Sood added.
“We have to be sensitive to the trauma and suffering of the woman. The male friend with her had given us some information but that was also incomplete because he was unconscious and it was around 7 pm and it was dark. This incident was discussed and speculated in the public domain,” Praveen Sood said.
"There were too many speculations yesterday. Karnataka Police has arrested five people. The five people's identities can't be revealed due to HC order, they are Tamil Nadu natives, would come to Mysuru often and are labourers. One person is a juvenile but it needs to be verified. This is known from preliminary interrogation.”
The labourers would come to Mysuru, they would often drink before returning home. The incidents as such need time to be investigated. This was a blind case, the only source was technical and scientific clues. Can't divulge more details, said Sood.
“Some of the accused have criminal background, however, further investigations are needed. We suspect some small crimes were committed in Tamil Nadu,” said the DGP, adding that it is not yet ascertained whether the crime was planned in advance or was incidental.
The DGP said that they will expedite the case and file the chargesheet as soon as possible; he added that he will also request the Karnataka High Court to expedite the case.