Police in Mangaluru have arrested seven individuals in connection with the alleged rape of a junior college student near Kinnikambla in Gurupura Kaikamba. The accused also filmed the assault and shared the footage.
According to police, the victim had met one of the suspects, Karthik, on Instagram about two months ago, which led to a love relationship.
On June 29, Karthik allegedly enticed the minor girl, taking her on his scooter to a hotel in Valachil for lunch before heading to a wooded area near Adyar Falls.
Reports indicate that he sexually assaulted her, and one of his friends also raped the victim. The main suspect recorded the incident and circulated the video among his friends.
The accused have been identified as Karthik, Rakesh Saldana, Jeevan, Sandeep, Rakshith, Shravan, and Suresh. Police stated that the other five were arrested for abetting the crime and for sharing the video.
A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Information Technology Act. The accused have been remanded into judicial custody.
In Alappuzha, a 30-year-old woman has been arrested under the POCSO Act for allegedly eloping with a 17-year-old boy.
Police say the woman, a mother of two, ran away with her distant relative about a week ago and "sexually exploited" him. Both were located in Kollur, Karnataka, five days later after their families filed separate missing persons reports.
The police noted that the pair had avoided using mobile phones during that time. They were taken into custody in Kollur, where the woman had rented a house in "an attempt to settle down," police told the media.
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