Screengrab from the viral video.
Credit: X
Bengaluru: In a case reminiscent of Renukaswamy murder case, in which film actor Darshan was arrested, a 19-year-old college student was stripped and brutally assaulted by a group of youths in northern Bengaluru for allegedly sending "obscene" messages to his ex-girlfriend, police said.
The girl, a classmate of the victim, is said to have informed her current boyfriend, who then teamed up with his friends to attack the youth.
The assailants confiscated the student's phone, deleted photos from it and warned him that he would face the same fate as Renukaswamy.
Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, was stripped and beaten to death in Bengaluru last year. In that case, Kannada film star Darshan Thoogudeepa, his female friend Pavithra Gowda and over a dozen others were arrested.
The latest incident occurred at AGB Layout, Hesaraghatta, last Monday (June 30) but came to light after videos shot by the assailants went viral.
The jurisdictional Soladevanahalli police have registered a case of attempted murder, causing hurt with dangerous weapons and other offences.
The student, Kushal K M, told the police that he and the girl had recently broken up after an argument. On June 30, in reply to his message, she asked him to meet her at AGB Layout, saying they should talk things out. But when Kushal arrived there around 2.30 pm, she found her along with several local youths.
One of the men, identified as Hemanth, confronted him and demanded that he immediately delete the girl's photos from his phone. When Kushal said he had left his phone at home, they began to assault him — slapping and kicking him as he pleaded for mercy from the girl. They then forced him into a car and drove to his house in the nearby Manjunath Layout. They got him to bring his phone. Hemanth deleted all photos in it and handed it back.
Kushal was then forced back into the car and taken to Alur, off Tumakuru Road. He was threatened again, stripped naked and beaten with a wooden stick on the head, back and legs, according to the police complaint.
A police officer close to the investigation told DH that the victim had sent text messages to the girl even after breaking up. Eight suspects have been arrested so far. The officer identified them as Yeshwanth, Hemanth, Shashi, Shivashankar, Shashank, Tejas, Rakesh and Salman.