from Daijiworld's special correspondent reporting from Manipal - Sunday, 11-00 pm
Manipal, Mar 12: The three of the four culprits who attempted to gang-rape a minor school-going girl at End Point here were released on Saturday after being slapped with a petty case. (The fourth one is absconding.)
The girl, studying in a high school in Udupi, has been staying at her aunt's place near here. The culprits are said to be friends of a cousin of hers, through whom she got introduced to them.
Sandeep Shetty, Asif and Imran
The Manipal police have provided the details of the culprits as follows:
- Imran alias Mohammed Azharuddin (22), Udupi
- Sandeep Shetty (24), Santekatte, Kallianpur
- Asif (30), Kaup-Mallar
- Zahir, Nejar, Kallianpur (Absconding, yet to be nabbed)
While three of the four involved belonged to a minority community, the fourth belongs to the majorirty community. He is reported to be the son of a liquor dealer with sufficient political clout, said a BJP leader, while speaking to this correspondent.
The BJP, Bajrang Dal and other Hindu outfits have taken tremendous interest in the case in spite of the fact that one of the four, whose Maruti car (KA 20 M 3758) was used in the crime, belongs to the majority community.
There has been public outrage against the police having treated the case so lightly. With Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat and other BJP leaders like Gladys Almeida taking the issue seriously, there has been a demand to have the police personnel suspended. There has been a demand on Sunday to have circle inspector H D Mendonca himself suspended although he was reportedly away while the release was effected.
The public fail to understand how the culprits could be released when the offence invited action under several stringent sections of the Criminal Procedure Code, involving the rape attempt on a minor girl.
Police sources in Manipal, on condition of anonymity, revealed to this correspondent that a minority community political leader of the district got a party leader in Delhi, also belonging to another minority community, to speak to the cops here and have the case recorded as a petty case. The cops here are in a dilemmma over the issue.
The issue took a serious turn forcing Udupi superintendent of police Murugan to rush to the Manipal police station to take stock of the situation. He has assured transfer of a police personnel and suspension of another. The orders were to be issued by Sunday evening.
The BJP and Bajrang Dal have threatened to step up their agitation by Monday morning if no action is taken by Sunday evening as promised.