Teenage girl found hanging, sexual abuse suspected

Shobha (name changed), 19, was found hanging from a tree in a mango grove at Narasimhanahalli, Doddaballapur, Tuesday night.

Shobha, the eldest daughter of a farmer from the same village, was working at a garments factory at the Apparel Park, Doddaballapur after completing SSLC. Her body was noticed by some villagers in the night and the identity established later.

By then, her father and family had been searching for her as she had not returned from work. The girl’s body was found hanging in the mango grove.

Enquiries in the village revealed that four men from the same village were last seen with the girl near the mango grove. One of the villagers told the police that in the evening, when women returned from work from the Apparel Park, he saw the girl being teased by the gang of four men near the mango grove.

However, he was travelling in a bus and could not go to her rescue, he said.
The four men have been identified as Narasimha-murthy, Gangadhar, Pradeep and Praveen, who work as agricultural labourers.

The girl's father, in his complaint to the police, has alleged that the four men teased and abused his daughter sexually and this might have led her to take the extreme step.

Though, initially, gang rape was suspected, the police did not confirm it. Circle Inspector Shivareddy, told Deccan Herald that sexual assault or rape on the girl was yet to be established.

“Autopsy was conducted at the Doddaballapur Government Hospital. Only the final post-mortem report will confirm rape, if it has been committed.”

Doddaballapur Rural Police have registered a case of abetment to suicide against the four men. All the four have been absconding since the incident came to light.

Taluk Panchayat member Obadenahalli Muniyappa has alleged that the police did not register a case based on the complaint lodged by the victim’s father. The police forced him to change the content of the complaint, Muniyappa alleged.