3 minor girls rescued from paedophile's lair

During the month-long ‘Operation Muskaan’ to trace missing children, the Koramangala police rescued three minor girls, who were kidnapped by an auto-rickshaw driver.

He took them to his native Mandya, where they were sexually assaulted for over a month.

During the operation which was carried out from July 1 to 31, the police found that three girls, one aged 10 years and the other two aged seven years, had gone missing. They were residents of Bangla Colony at Jakkasandra in Koramangala. Their parents, who hail from West Bengal, are labourers. In June, the three children went missing from near their house. Their parents lodged missing complaints at the Koramangala police station and a kidnap case was registered.

A senior police officer told Deccan Herald  that they tried to trace them but in vain. “After Operation Muskaan was launched on July 1, the Koramangala police started looking out for the children and their parents were asked to give a detailed description of the girls. They said they suspected an auto driver who used to frequent their area. We gathered information about him and sent police teams which traced him to Mandya. It was shocking to find the minors were at his house. It emerged he was sexually abusing them,” he said.

The suspect was identified as Ramakrishna, 45. He constantly moved from place to place for reasons unknown. He had kidnapped the girls by luring them with chocolates. He was married twice and both his wives deserted him. He had two children who lived with his relative.

“When the suspect took the minor girls to Mandya, his neighbours looked askance at him. He also went to his relative’s house and brought his two children. He told the neighbours he brought these kids from Bengaluru as they would give company to his children. The suspect’s children have been moved to a government-run children’s home following suspicion they too could be sexually assaulted,” said a police officer who was part of the team which traced the children.

The girls’ parents told Deccan Herald: “We had lost hopes of finding our children. But we got information about the auto driver and informed the police. We can’t imagine the plight of our girls and don’t know how they will recover. We are poor and can’t afford medical treatment.”