JOIN USIn a tragedy that shook the taluk, Hanumavva Doli, a 19-year-old girl of Hyathi near here, committed suicide on Monday, after allegedly being raped by four youths.
A clip of the multiple rape, filmed by the suspects on their mobile phones, started circulating in cellphones across the village over the last two days, forcing the girl, an orphan, to end her life.
Three of the suspects allegedly filmed Hanumavva and her lover, when they were making love at a farm in the village, a week ago. The trio, said to be the friends of the lover, insisted that Hanumavva sleep with them too. When the girl refused to oblige, they are said to have threatened to circulate the clip. The three youths, along with her lover, then gang-raped the helpless girl.
Village elders, who came to know about the clip doing the rounds on mobiles, summoned the suspects, had them publicly thrashed and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on each of them. Humiliated over the public exposure, the girl consumed poison on Monday. She was taken to district hospital, but the doctors referred her to a private hospital in Gadag, where she died after the treatment failed. Rural Police Station has registered a case of suicide by consuming poison, according to Sub-Inspector Mahantesh Sajjan.
Residents have been vocal for the intervention of the State Women’s Commission and the State Child Rights Commission and stringent punishment for the perpetrators of the crime.