Another minor girl raped

Victim had fled home after learning that she was pregnant

In the second such incident reported from the City in the past two days, the Srirampura police have arrested a man who had allegedly raped a 15-year-old from the neighbourhood.

The 32-year-old Arun Kumar was arrested after the police traced the girl who had fled home after she learnt that she was two months’ pregnant.The incident came to light hours after a man was arrested in Kengeri on Wednesday for allegedly raping a minor girl who is now five months’ pregnant.

The victim in the Sriramapuram case is a Class 10 student of private school and the only child of her parents. Her father works as a cab driver while her mother is a housewife.

Nine months ago, the family moved into a portion on the first floor of a building in Sriramapuram, owned by accused Arun Kumar, said the police.

The girl went missing from her house on Tuesday morning and her parents lodged a missing complaint with the Srirampura police. The police tracked her on the basis of a call she had made from a public call office (PCO) to her mother's mobile phone. The police said that the number was traced to Hosur in Tamil Nadu. A police team rushed to Hosur and found the girl alone at a bus station there and, brought her back to Bangalore.

A senior police officer handling the case told Deccan Herald that once the girl was traced, her parents were not keen on pursuing the case. The girl broke down before the police, though she did not reveal the reason for fleeing her home. The officer said that when he took the girl into confidence and counselled her, she revealed that she was pregnant. He said though the parents resisted a medical examination, the police got her examined at Vani Vilas Hospital on Wednesday. The doctors confirmed that she was two months’ pregnant.

The girl claimed that Kumar, a dealer in used cars, had deceived her by promising that he would marry her. Kumar is married and has two daughters aged five and three years. He was produced before the VII ACMM court on Thursday and was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

The girl will be sent to Nimhans for counselling. The police said they would go for a DNA test of the foetus.