JOIN USVikas (22), who had migrated to Bangalore from West Bengal, lived in a room along with his friends at Kottigepalya in Kamakshipalya, and worked at a garment manufacturing unit.
Fifty-year-old Arathi (name changed) was working in the same factory as Vikas. A widow, she has a daughter aged 15. The woman and the girl are HIV patients, said to be on medication.
Arathi would take her daughter to the factory every day. She worked inside the factory, while the girl spent time playing outside. Both would return home together after factory hours.
On February 4, at 5 pm, Arathi asked her daughter to go home alone, as she had more work.
As the girl left the factory premises, Vikas followed her. When she entered her house, he barged in and locked the doors from inside and gagged her.
Later, he allegedly raped her and fled, according to police. The girl, traumatised by the assault, consumed 30 pills that she and her mother took one each every morning. Due to overmedication, she began vomiting the next morning. When her mother questioned her, the girl narrated the incident. The victim was immediately taken to M S Ramaiah Hospital for treatment. On a complaint from Arathi, police arrested Vikas.