BENGALURU: A 24-year-old youth, who was released from jail after serving three years in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case, allegedly kidnapped and raped a 14-year-old minor a few days after his release. The Dabaspet police arrested him again.
The accused identified as Anand, worked as a cleaner of a private bus. Police sources stated that he was arrested by the Byadarahalli police in 2021 in connection with a POCSO case, in which he was convicted and served a jail term of three years. However, after he was recently released from jail, he befriended a 14-year-old girl, who went to school on the private bus in which he worked as a cleaner. On December 30, the girl left home telling her parents that she was going to school but when she did not return home, they lodged a missing complaint.
Based on the complaint, the girl was traced and rescued from a construction site in Doddaballapura and the accused was immediately arrested. Investigations revealed that Anand, on December 30, took her to a temple, where he tied a mangalasutra (sacred thread) and took her to a room at a construction site, where his sister and brother-in-law worked as daily wage workers. He sexually abused her for five days before she was rescued, informed police sources. Besides, Anand also had theft cases against him. He was produced before the court, which remanded him in judicial custody.