Police file charge sheet in Puttur gang rape case

Puttur police filed a charge sheet against five students accused in the Puttur gang rape case in the court.

The investigating officer Dinaker Shetty, who is Puttur deputy superintendent of police, filed the charge sheet exceeding 365 pages within the permissible period of 90 days.

Public prosecutor Krishnaveni confirmed that the police had filed the charge sheet against the five second year undergraduate students Gurunandan from Ganadamoole, Prajwal from Perne, Kishen from Kadambu, Sunil from Aryapu Piligunda, and Prakhyath from Barimaru Balya.

In March this year, the students, under pretext of dropping the victim – a first year undergraduate student – had reportedly taken her to a desolate place and allegedly sexually assaulted her in turn in a car. They had also threatened the victim of dire consequences if she revealed about the assault.

The gang rape incident came to light in July this year, after some students circulated the video clip in order to tarnish the image of a student contesting the college elections.

Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police B M Laxmiprasad swung into act and, assisted by the social media monitoring cell, succeeded in arresting all the five students involved in the crime.

Laxmiprasad, in order to discourage the circulation of the clip on social media, had arrested three more men for forwarding the clip.

“The victim had demanded stringent punishment for the rapists who had betrayed her trust,” Shyamala S Kunder, National Commission for Women member, had told reporters after interacting with the victim and her single mother, who belong to a schedule tribe.

Shyamala Kunder, when contacted on Wednesday, said that, as according to the wishes of the victim, she had enrolled in a different college outside the district. “I am in regular contact and she is doing well in her studies,” she told DH.

Shyamala said that the victim had received compensation from both district legal services authority and the police. Travelling in Telangana, she said that she would visit Mangaluru and interact with the superintendent to ensure that the accused students were thoroughly punished.

Laxmiprasad, when contacted, said that, if convicted under the sections in the charge sheet, the students would either be sentenced to a period of 20 years or be given life imprisonment, the maximum punishment for gang rape.

“The reports of the forensic science laboratory in Bengaluru and the phone records are awaited. Once we receive them, a supplementary charge sheet will be filed shortly,” the superintendent added.