Bengaluru woman gang-raped in moving car, four men arrested

The accused covered almost 60 km, in 4 hours, without getting intercepted anywhere by the police, even with heightened security due to the upcoming elections

A 19-year-old woman was abducted from Koramangala on the night of March 25 and gang-raped by four men in a moving car. All the men have been arrested.

Preliminary reports said the woman was forcefully taken away from the National Games Village neighbourhood in Koramangala and was left on a road in Ejipura, four hours later. Koramangala Police arrested four men – Sathish, Vijay, Sridhar and Kiran, all aged between 22 and 24 years and residents of Ejipura and surrounding areas. While two of the accused work as office boys, one works in a BPO and the other is an electrician.

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Police said the woman, employed in a private firm, was sitting in a park in NGV along with a male friend at around 9.30 pm on March 25 when one of the accused who lives in the neighbourhood found the couple smoking. He got into an argument with them. Later, the woman’s friend left the park for home when the accused was still in the park. The woman and the accused continued to argue and the latter called three of his friends to the park.

The men dragged the woman into a car at around 11 pm. They drove to Domlur and Hosur Main Road, and before the Attibele check post, took a U-turn and came back to Ejipura at around 3.30 am. They dropped her on the roadside in Ejipura.

The woman managed to get home and with the help of her mother and friends, went to a nearby hospital and got treatment for her injuries. She filed a complaint against the four men at the Koramangala Police Station. She is still undergoing treatment but is out of risk.

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C K Baba, deputy commissioner of police (South-East), said two special teams were formed soon after the woman filed a complaint and arrested all four accused within nine hours.

According to sources, the victim and her friend had both seen the accused men earlier as they stayed in the same area. The friend is reported to have called the woman when she was in the car.

The police have collected the woman’s medical reports and the clothes she was wearing on the day of the crime. The miscreants have also been subjected to medical tests. The police are awaiting the reports to find out if they were under the influence of drugs.

Crime amid heightened security

The police are reported to have tightened security across the city in view of the upcoming Assembly elections. Senior officials claimed that personnel have been deployed in major locations and vehicle checks are on. They said patrolling has also been increased. Despite the security measures in place, the men managed to abduct the woman and rape her in the moving car. They covered almost 60 km, in four hours, without getting intercepted anywhere by the police.

Past incidents

*In July 2014, during Ramadan, a 22-year-old woman studying at a prestigious college in Mangaluru was abducted, along with her male friend, by a gang of three. She was sitting in her friend's car in front of her apartment in Pulakeshinagar at midnight. The accused dragged the couple into their car and drove to an isolated place and allegedly raped her.

*In October 2016, a 23-year-old working woman was abducted by two men in a Tempo Traveller from near the Aiyappa Temple Junction in Madiwala and was raped in the moving vehicle. The woman was waiting for a bus to get home after work. The men had offered to drop her home.

*In December 2022, a 34-year-old woman working as a peon in a school was raped by a private school van driver inside the vehicle. He offered to drop her off, took her to an isolated place near Nayandahalli and raped her.