Bengaluru engineering student drags classmate into men's washroom, rapes her; later asks, ‘Do you need a pill?’
When the survivor arrived to meet her classmate, he reportedly tried to kiss her forcefully and followed her to another floor as she attempted to escape. Police say he then dragged her into a men's washroom and raped her.
Police arrested a 21-year-old engineering student for allegedly raping his classmate inside the men's washroom of a private college in South Bengaluru. The incident took place on 10 October, and the victim filed a complaint five days later, on 15 October.
The accused, identified as Jeevan Gowda, is a sixth-semester student at the college. Police took him into custody on Wednesday. According to a report by NDTV, the court has remanded him into judicial custody.
The survivor, a seventh-semester student, told the police that she had gone to meet Jeevan Gowda to collect her belongings earlier that day.
As per the First Information Report (FIR), a case has been registered against the accused under Section 64 (Punishment for Rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Bengaluru rape: What does the FIR say?
According to the FIR cited by NDTV, the victim and Gowda knew each other from before. They were classmates, but Gowda had fallen behind due to some academic backlogs. She met the accused on the day of the incident to take back some of her belongings.
Following that, during lunch break, Gowda reportedly called her several times and asked her to meet him near the architecture block on the seventh floor.
When she arrived, the accused reportedly tried to kiss her forcefully. As she attempted to escape by taking the lift, he followed her to the sixth floor.
As she tried to leave, Gowda reportedly dragged her into the men's washroom and sexually assaulted her.
The NDTV report adds that the alleged Bengaluru rape incident took place between 1:30 pm and 1:50 pm on 10 October.
According to the FIR, Gowda later called the victim and asked her, “Do you need a pill?”
The survivor initially hesitated to report the incident to the police as she was distressed and frightened, officials said. However, after confiding in two of her friends and her parents, she went to the Hanumanthanagar police station to file a complaint.
Authorities confirmed to NDTV that the crime scene did not have CCTV cameras installed, adding that this could complicate evidence gathering. However, officials are examining forensic and digital evidence to make the case.
Police also recreated the crime scene on Thursday, officials said.
The Bengaluru rape incident has sparked widespread outrage in Bengaluru, with the opposition BJP blaming the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for deteriorating law and order in the state.