
BELAGAVI: Within 24 hours of the complaint being filed, police arrested three accused in the rape of two minor girls at Harugeri village in Raibag taluk of Belagavi.
Disclosing this at a press conference, Superintendent of Police (SP) Bheemashankar Guled said the arrested are Abhishek, Kautub Banu alias Bapusa Badiger and Adilsha Jamadar, all residents from Harugeri.
He said Abhishek had developed a friendship with the victim (complainant) on social media. He convinced her to go to a jatra (fair) at Saundatti with him. She was accompanied by her friend, who is also a minor. Guled said the complainant and her friend were picked up by Abhishek in a car, in which Kautub and Jamadar were present. However, instead of going to the fair, Abhishek brought them to a hillock where he and Kautub allegedly raped the complainant.
Guled said that while the complainant was raped and brought back to the car, she found that Jamadar was raping her friend inside the vehicle. The accused threatened both the victims, before releasing them. The victims were in shock and did not know what to do next, he said.
Three days ago, Abhishek called the victim on her mobile phone and asked her to come along with her friend to Goa for a picnic, said Guled.
The accused warned the girld that if they refuse to come with him, he will release the videos and photos taken by him on social media. This forced the victim to disclose the incident to her family members, who immediately approached police.
Following the complaint, the police took the trio into custody, Guled said. Police have also seized the evidence recorded in the mobile phone of the main accused.