Bidadi police detain 4 suspects for rape, murder of deaf-mute girl

Bidadi: The Bidadi police have detained four to five suspects in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a 15-year-old deaf-mute girl from Hakki Pikki community.

The body of the girl, a native of Bhadrapur village near Bidadi and a Class 8 student of a school in Bengaluru Urban district, was found abandoned in a semi-nude state on railway tracks near Bhadrapur on Monday.

Following the allegations by the victim’s parents and the members of the community, the Bidadi police registered a case and have initiated investigations.

The body of the girl was handed to her parents following a post-mortem at Rajarajeshwari Medical College and Hospital.

Based on the CCTV footage obtained from the surroundings of the spot where the body was found abandoned, the police have detained four to five suspects, including a man from the girl’s village, for questioning.

According to sources, multiple physical injuries were found on the body of the girl. Also, the body was found in a semi-nude state. But there is no concrete evidence to show that the girl was raped before the murder. Clarity will emerge only after the post-mortem report.

The girl was studying class 8 living at a hostel belonging to the Social Welfare department in Bengaluru Urban district. She had returned to her native village in view of summer vacation. She went missing while attending a birthday party in the village. After she didn’t return home at 10 pm, parents and relatives searched for her before lodging a missing complaint at the Bidadi police station, sources said.

Ramanagara SP R Srinivas Gowda has constituted three teams, led by Ramanagara DySP Srinivas and Bidadi PI Shankar Nayak, to investigate the alleged rape and murder of the minor.

Meanwhile, alleging that the deaf-mute girl was raped and murdered, the parents and relatives the girl on Wednesday staged a protest in the village saying that they would not perform the last rites of the victim till the perpetrators were arrested. Pallavi G, chairperson of Karnataka State SC/ST Nomadic Development Corporation, joined by district officials and Greater Bengaluru Development Authority chairman G N Nataraj, visited the protest site and managed to convince the parents to perform the last rites of the girl.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar visited the family of the victim in the evening and consoled the family members. He presented cheques for Rs 4,12,500, issued by the Social Welfare department, and another cheque for Rs 50,000 by the Manchanayakanahalli GP, to the parents of the victim. He assured them of justice by holding a fair probe into the case.

Shivakumar suggested the Ramanagara police to send samples to FSL lab in Bengaluru for further investigation.