VIJAYAPURA: A 14-year-old girl killed herself after being sexually harassed for a week by two men, who were forcing her to start a romantic relationship with them, at Rathnapura village of Vijayapura. The Class 8 student of a local government school set herself on fire when her parents were away at work in the farm on December 1, and died on way to the hospital. The incident came to light after the parents registered a complaint at the Tikota Police Station on December 3.
The accused have been identified as Mohan Edave, 19, and Shankar H, 24, a married man. Both of them are residents of the same village. The two were harassing the victim every day for about a week, accosting her when she returned home from school. On November 30, she finally narrated it to her parents, who promised to resolve the issue by taking it up with the village elders.
They also assured her that they would drop her to school and pick her up after the classes. However, she set herself on fire when her parents, and her 16-year-old elder sister -- a school dropout -- went to work in the field in the evening. When the parents returned home, they were shocked to see their daughter in a critical condition.
They rushed her to hospital but she succumbed before they could reach. In her complaint, the victim's mother accused the two men of causing her daughter's death. The police arrested the duo on December 3 and booked them under IPC Section 306 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. Prakash Nikkam, the Superintendent of Police, said, "During the primary investigation, we came to know that she lit herself and that it is suicide and not murder. We have arrested the accused."