Student was raped at secluded building under construction

Liqour bottles, burnt condoms, empty cigarette packs and an abandoned house welcome visitors to the remote, isolated area of Eshwarnagar,  where the fourth year MBBS student of Manipal University was gang-raped late Thursday.

The young medico was raped allegedly at a building under construction, for which only the foundation has been built, close to an abandoned house situated at the end of the 11th main on the 8th cross in Eshwarnagar.

The area with hillocks barely has any dwellings except for the two houses at a distance. The stretch of the concrete road ends near the curve opening into almost barren lands. Due to the downpour, the grass cover  there is slippery.

The victim had very little chances of escaping from the rapists as the crime spot is covered by steep areas on all the three sides. The crime spot explicitly indicates that only those people who are well aware about the nook and corner of Manipal had committed the crime.

The two houses at a distance from where the crime was committed belong to Rama Shettigar and Narayana Shettigar. Narayana Shettigar’s daughter Vidya told Deccan
Herald it was raining that night and dogs were barking  like never before.

“We, particularly my mother could hear a sort of screaming. However, we were not sure that the voice is of human. All these happened around midnight. Later, we did not pay attention as it was raining. We realised what had happened only on Friday evening, when the police started questioning us.

The abandoned house belongs to a Christian family which is settled abroad. There was an elderly man in the house who died some four years ago, after that there is no one to look after it,” she said.

Kamala Shettigar, wife of Rama Shettigar said that they were not sure what was happening, but only realised about the tragic event on Friday evening. The dogs were barking and we did not dare to venture out.

“Usually, we find some students coming once in a while during day time. However, we were not interested to go out in the midnight. We all go for work early in the morning and, so we did not want to take any risk,” she said and added that the incident has made her fear about the safety of her daughters as the area is very deserted,” she said.

The victim, who was abducted in an autorickshaw between 11.30 pm and 11.40 pm on Thursday from near the university library was taken to Eshwarnagar via Valley View hotel and Marina sports complex.

The university guards failed to notice the speeding autorickshaw. The victim was dropped back near Valley View Cosmo Cafe from where she walked to her flat.