Men who assaulted interfaith couple in Karnataka charged with gang-rape

Haveri: Seven men who allegedly barged into a hotel room and attacked an interfaith couple during their stay in this district have been charged with gang-rape after the victim complained that she was sexually assaulted by them, police said on Friday.

In the case of moral policing, three men, who also belong to a minority community, have been arrested in connection with the incident that happened on January 8, they said.

"On Thursday afternoon, the victim's statement was recorded in front of a magistrate wherein she alleged that she was gang-raped by seven men who also abused and assaulted her. So, based on her claim, we have added section 376 D (gang-rape) to the existing FIR. We have arrested three men in connection with the incident so far," a senior police officer said.

"Another suspect is hospitalised due to an accident he met a day after the alleged incident. So, once he is discharged, he will be taken into custody. Our teams are trying to trace the remaining suspects in the case. We have identified all of them," he said.

Earlier, the woman alleged the involvement of six men, and later she also mentioned other suspects who were accomplices, so the police were trying to secure all of them, he added.

According to the police, on January 8, at 1 pm, a 26-year-old married woman who belongs to a minority community checked into the hotel room with a KSRTC driver aged 40, with whom she has been in a relationship for the past three years.

The entire assault which happened inside the hotel room was filmed by the gang. The videos later became viral after they got circulated on social media platforms, police said.

In one of the videos, six men could be seen knocking on the door of a room. When a man opens the door, the assailants could be seen barging in and heading towards the woman. The gang verbally abused the couple, assaulted them and filmed the woman while she tried to cover her face with a burqa.

According to police, when the couple entered the hotel, they were spotted by an auto rickshaw driver. Seeing the woman clad in a burqa with a man from another community, he immediately alerted the gang of local men who also belonged to the minority community.

They allegedly barged into the hotel room and started attacking the couple. They also eventually dragged them out of the room, a senior police officer said.

The gang who arrived on three motorcycles drove the couple to an isolated place which was about a kilometer away from the hotel. Upon reaching there, they started thrashing the couple. They also abused the woman and hit her with sticks, he said.

The woman alleged she was also gangraped by them, he added.

Thereafter, the gang gave her Rs 500 and told her to go to her native place. She later went to Sirsi where her husband lives, the police officer said.

The accused members are not affiliated to any organisation, police said, adding that those arrested so far do not have any criminal background, but that needs to be verified.

Besides gangrape, other IPC sections included in the FIR are those pertaining to kidnap and assault, according to the police.