The police arrested the chief of a rehabilitation centre at Kedur in Kundapur and his accomplice on the charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl.
The arrested have been identified as Keshava Koteshwara (50) and his accomplice Hanumantha (28), a resident of Kundapur, of Spoorthidhama Rehabilitation Centre in Kedur. The arrested have been booked under Pocso Act and have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
The police are investigating as to how many girl children have been sexually assaulted and harassed by the accused. As soon as the incident came to light, the district administration has shifted 22 inmates of the Centre (16 boys and six girls) to a rehabilitation centre at Nittoor.
The misdeeds of Keshava and Hanumantha would have remained unnoticed had the girl who escaped from centre did not inform the police on the trauma she went through. The orphan girl was residing at the centre and had gone missing recently. The public spotted her at Sasthana on March 13 and Kota police rescued her.
She reportedly told the police that a family had adopted her recently. However, due to her ill health, she was sent back to the rehabilitation centre. Fearing sexual harassment at the hands of the duo, she escaped from the centre.
Kota police then handed over the case to Udupi Women Police Station. The police have also questioned other girls from the centre, who have revealed that they were sexually assaulted and harassed by Keshava and Hanumantha.
Udupi Circle Police Inspector Sampath Kumar, the investigating officer in the case, said that the investigation was under progress.
The rehabilitation centre at Kedur was established in 1993 to help socially deprived and oppressed children.