Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur
Kundapur, Apr 12: A day after the alleged rape and murder of a 30-year-old pregnant woman at Gopady under Beejady gram panchayat limits at Koteshwar here, the accused who was arrested on Saturday April 12 is learnt to have admitted to the crime.
Though initially the Kundapur police did not reveal his identity, it is now learnt that the arrested accused is Prashant Mogaveera (27), a resident of Beejady.
Reliable sources said that during interrogation, Prashant admitted that when the victim began to scream, he grabbed a stone from nearby and killed her by smashing her head before fleeing the spot.
According to sources, Prashant revealed that on Saturday, when Indira was alone at home with only her toddler son who was sleeping, he went to the house and asked Indira water to drink. When Indira came with a bottle of water, Prashant asked her to give the water in a bigger bottle. When Indira went inside again, he folllowed her and tried to rape her. When she resisted, he dragged her into an adjacent shed and ripped off her clothes and attempted to rape her. When she started screaming, he panicked and hit her with a stone, killing her instantly. Investigation has revealed that before fleeing the spot, he snatched her mangalsutra.
However, on Saturday, the locals who gathered at the crime spot said that the crime was not committed by a single person and that at least four persons were involved. They had said that the suspects were seen running away which led to claims that Indira was gang-raped. However, during interrogation, Prashant insisted that he was alone in the crime and had no accomplices, sources said. As the investigation is still in its initial stage, the police are yet to determine if more than person was involved.
Moreover, as post-mortem report is awaited, it is doubtful if it was a case of rape or attempted rape. Police sources said that Prashant had attempted to rape Indira, but killed her and escaped when she started to scream.
It is also learnt that when Prashant was attempting to rape her, Indira fought back by biting his hands and legs. As bite marks were found on his body, he has been subjected to medical examination.
Prashant had been jailed in Hiradka earlier in a case of theft. He was released only a week back, it is learnt. Also, on a previous occasion, he had been arrested for stealing a mobile phone from his former employer's house.
Indira's last rites
After the post-mortem in Manipal, Indira's mortal remains were handed over to her family on Sunday. The six-and-a-half-month-old female foetus that was in Indira's womb was taken out and buried according to rituals. Indira was cremated near Sangam in Kundapur.
Protest outside police station
Later in the evening, relatives of the victim's husband who came from Malpe gathered outside Kundapur station and expressed anger at the cops. They demanded that the police bring the accused out and show his face to the public.
"Strict action should be taken and the accused should be parade in public. No one should dare to commit such a crime again," they said.
The protest was called off after police assured that justice would be done in the case. DySP M Manjunath Shetty, circle inspector P M Diwakar and SI Naseer Hussain calmed down the protesting crowd.