Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)

Karkala, Aug 4: The locals caught hold of youth and stripped and tied him to a pole for allegedly trying to molest and kill a woman in a photo studio at Hosmar in Edu village in the taluk on Monday August 3.

Sathish (22), a local, who works in a garage at Hosmar, has been identified as the culprit in this case. The incident occurred when the studio owner was away during lunch hour in the afternoon.

The accused went to the studio, and told the lady that he wanted to get his 'one-minute-photo'. When the woman, who is eighteen-year-old, agreed and was preparing to take his snap, he approached her from behind and suddenly twisted a wire he had with him around her neck, it is alleged. When she tried to escape from the assaulter's clutches, the person operating the neighbouring shop came to check the source of the sound he had heard from inside the studio. The youth tried to escape, but the locals caught hold of him, stripped him, and tied him to a pole.

After the matter was conveyed to them, the rural police here rushed to the spot and took the accused into custody. The woman's neck bore marks made by the tightening of wire.

The residents of the area said that the accused, before entering the studio, had visited several shops in the vicinity tentatively in the guise of a customer interested in buying different things. They think that this was a ploy to check the spot and make sure that the situation was conducive for his assault.