Dakshina Kannada police on Wednesday arrested five youngsters after video clips of them allegedly raping a college girl of Puttur were shared widely on social media, sending shock waves in the coastal district.
The police gave the names of arrested persons as Gurunandan of Bajathoor village, Prajwal and Kishan of Perne village in Bantwal, Sunil of Aryapu village in Puttur, and Prakhyat from Barimaru village in Bantwal, all aged 19. The five are accused of raping the girl and circulating videos on WhatsApp groups.
In a statement, the police said the victim was called by Sunil, her senior in the college, to accompany him in the car in the last week of March. The four other accused also joined them. They took her to a secluded place and gang-raped her. The accused had reportedly threatened the victim against revealing the incident.
The incident came to light after the social media monitoring cell of the district police noticed the videos on some WhatsApp groups. The cell alerted the District Women Police, who registered a suo motu case under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The police have booked the accused under Sections 341, 376 (D) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 3(1)(w)(1)(11) and 3 (2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and under Sections 66 (E) and 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act.
In a statement, Superintendent of Police B.M. Laxmi Prasad cautioned against sharing the video clips.
Mr. Prasad denied reports that the girl was drugged before the assault.
