Sunil Haleangady
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (EP)

Mangaluru, Feb 7: In an incident which came to light with some delay, the assistant to the priest of the famous Kateel Durgaparmeshwari temple, has been accused of raping a 19-year-old girl and impregnating her.

Harischandra Rao alias Appu Bhat, a resident near Kateel Junior College, is the accused.

The girl has lodged a complaint at Bajpe police station alleging that she was raped by Rao, and that she is now six months pregnant. She was allegedly raped by Harischandra Rao in August 2015 when she had gone to work in his house. She further alleged that Rao had threatened to kill her if she disclosed the matter to others.

Sources said that Rao had taken the girl to a private hospital in Mangaluru for abortion fearing that the incident may come to light. However, the hospital staff came to know the truth and informed the department concerned about it.

Sources also said that after the matter came to light, Rao tried to reach a compromise at the panchayat level.

It is also alleged that there were attempts to fix a Dalit youth in the case by luring him with money, and that a leader took advantage of the situation and started blackmailing the priest. Later, when nobody helped the accused, he made an unsuccessful attempt to keep the girl in a private lodge in Mangaluru paying Rs 300 as rent, sources said.

A woman who is said to be an expert in handling such situations had spoken to Rao and said that she would keep the girl in a home stay in Madikeri, get the child delivered and sell it later. However, as Rao was not willing to pay the amount demanded by the woman, the deal did not materialize.

It was also learnt that Rao has a daughter who is the same age as the sexually exploited girl. Rao's wife committed suicide four months ago by hanging, reportedly as she was frustrated due to her ill health.