Attempted kidnapping of girl student takes twist, with police contemplating action against girl's father in Dakshina Kannada's Belthangady taluk

Mangaluru: The attempted kidnapping of a 16 year-old girl, which had triggered apprehensions among residents in Belthangady taluk, eventually was proved to be a hoax by Belthangady police on Tuesday.

The student, studying in first PU, while riding on a scooty to her college was waylaid by a gang of three men wearing masks at Sudemogaru on Monday.

The men attempted to kidnap her but on witnessing a two-wheeler rider Abbusali rushing to help her, had fled away in an Omni car. The girl with 'stab injuries' was later admitted to Belthangady taluk hospital. Based on her statements, Belthangady police had registered an attempted case of kidnapping.

Senior police officials rushed to Belthangady in order to form special teams to bust the kidnapping racket. Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja also had rushed to the hospital to extend his support to the girl students. However during investigations police found no trace of the Omni van as described by the girl. On interrogating Abbusali, he confessed to having seen no masked men fleeing in an omni.

He had corroborated the statements of girl student after the latter had begged him not to reveal the truth about the `stab' injuries on her hands which was self-inflicted with a sharp blade.

The medical report also revealed that the wounds were self-inflicted wounds. When the girl student was confronted with the facts by the police, she broke down and confessed to having given false statements on the attempted kidnapping in order to force her parents to enroll her in a private college in Mangaluru.

As the girl student was a minor, police decided to hand over the student to Belthangady Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) for counselling. Before moving onto the next course of action, police have decided to file a case against the father for having given his scooter to his minor daughter.