Daijiworld Media Network - Vijayapura (SP)

Vijayapura, May 24: The policemen of Basavana Bagewadi station in the district have arrested three persons accused of raping and killing two Dalit girls in Basavana Bagewadi taluk a week back.

The arrested accused happen to be Abubakker alias Habbu Maiboobsab Gulbal (22) from Kudurisalawadagi village, Dastagirsab Yakubsab Valikar (32), and Yallappa Malakappa Hadpad (28).

In his complaint, Somashekhar Kallimani, borther of the girls, had alleged that Abubakker had been pestering his sisters with the promise of marriage. "He offered many lures to them and often took them away. If he is arrested, the real facts will come into the open," he had said. On the basis of his complaint, a case had been registered in Basavana Bagewadi station.

The girls aged 13 and 15 had reportedly been dragged away to a lonely area by the gang which then raped them and tossed their bodies into a nearby well after binding their legs with ropes. The girls had gone missing from their home from May 12 and the family members had searched for them in houses of relatives and other places before stumbling on their bodies from a well. The brother of the girls, Somashekhar Kallimani, had filed the complaint on May 14 itself.

The Dalit organization leaders had held protest in Basavana Bagewadi condemning the police for their failure to arrest the accused even after ten days. The district administration had sanctioned Rs 4.12 lac each as compensation for the death of the girls by way of compensation.

Basavamurty Madar Chennayya Swamiji has demanded the arrest of some more people who are out in the open and to award them death sentence like in Nirbhaya case. Vijayapura superintendent of police, Anupam Agarwal, said that the accused had been taken into custody a few days back, and they were officially arrested after inquiry as the case is sensitive.