MANGALURU: In a swift move, the district police on Sunday nabbed a 30-year-old man in connection with the alleged rape of a minor dalit girl at Paduva in Kadaba police station limits on Saturday.
The police arrested K Shekhar of Koila village in Puttur taluk within 24 hours of the incident.
Superintendent of Police S D Sharanappa told reporters that Shekhar was a daily wager who also worked as a part-time driver.
The 16-year-old girl is a ninth standard student in a local school.
She used to go to school with her sister, who works for a private firm at Uppinangady.
The incident took place when she was returning from school on Saturday.
After alighting from a jeep near Koila Farm, she was walking to her house.
When she reached Padavu, Shekhar dragged her from behind into an acacia grove where he allegedly raped and abandoned her.
Though traumatised, she managed to reach home and inform her parents. Her parents rushed to Kadaba police station and filed a complaint.
With clues such as the guy was dark complexioned and had a mobile phone with a red case, the police were able to launch a search operation with the help of locals.
When they nabbed Shekhar and interrogated him, he confessed to the crime. The victim also identified Shekhar.
The accused must have been following the victim for a few days and hatched a plan to rape her on Saturday as she was not accompanied by her sister, the Superintendent of Police added.
