Mangaluru: Days after a Dalit student was gang-raped by her colleagues, a minor girl from the same community was sexually assaulted by a labourer in Dakshina Kannada district.
The accused identified as Ajith, a construction worker from Madnoor in Puttur was arrested in this connection on Friday, police sources said. The victim, a 15-year-old school student, has been admitted to a hospital.
The man met the girl while she was on her way to school on Friday morning and lied to her that her mother had fallen unconscious in a nearby place, they said. He then took her to a secluded area and allegedly raped her, they added.
The girl lost her consciousness as she was dragged by the man when she resisted. Later recovering from the trauma, she went home and told her parents about the incident and identified the accused. Sources said the accused has confessed to the crime.
A case under IPC section 376, various sections of SC/STAtrocity Act and section 4 of the POCSO Act have been registered against him at the Puttur rural police station.
Dakshina Kannada district Superintendent of Police BM Laxmi Prasad visited the girl at the hospital.
Five students of a private college at Puttur were arrested on Wednesday last on charges of gang-raping their college mate, a Dalit girl, inside a car and filming it.
The students were arrested after the video clip of the incident became viral on social media. They have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Eight others were also arrested later for circulating the video.
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