Two arrested for gangrape of minors in Karnataka's Belagavi

Belagavi: Two men who had gang-raped two minor girls after befriending them through Instagram and by luring them to a hillock near Savasuddi village in Raibag taluk have been arrested. A manhunt is in progress for nabbing the third accused who has been absconding. The vehicle used for the crime is also missing.

Superintendent of Police Dr Bheemashankar Guled informed reporters here on Wednesday that Abhishek Balappa Bevnur, a resident of Alaknur, had befriended a minor girl through Instagram and had been sending her messages. He had also met the victim during the Kokatnur fair last month. After befriending her, he had asked the victim to travel towards Savadatti with him. He had asked her to come near the bus stand in Harugeri.

When the victim arrived near the bus stand with another friend on January 3, Bevnur was waiting for them in a car in which there were the other accused Adilpasha Shabbir Jamadar, a resident of Harugeri, and Koutuk Banu Badiger, a resident of Alaknur, as well. They took both the minor girls to a hillock near Savasuddi village.

Bevnur and Jamadar raped the victim on the hillock while Badiger raped the other minor in the car. They also took videos and pictures of their acts and threatened to make them viral on social media if they did not come when called again to meet their needs. The accused had also called both the victims to accompany them to Goa, he said.

After the rape incident, both the minors were in a state of shock but one of them garnered courage and informed her family members about the ordeal faced by them. A complaint was filed with the Harugeri police on January 13, after which the police swung into action and nabbed the accused Bevnur and Jamadar within 24 hours and recovered their cell phones.

"Some videos of the rape incident have been found on their phones, the others could have been deleted. We have sent their cell phones to the cyber forensics laboratory to recover the deleted data. A manhunt has been launched for the third accused Badiger who has been absconding with the vehicle,'' Dr Guled said.

"We are also investigating the antecedents of the accused and their involvement in other crimes. We have received information that the accused Jamadar’s brother too was involved in such acts and was murdered,'' he said.

Harugeri police are investigating.