Udupi: Sexual assault case - Political 'hand' helped two others escape?
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Sep 24: The alleged sexual assault on 4-year-old girl in Manipal has shocked the coastal region, and two bus conductors accused in the case have already been arrested and sent to judicial custody.
However, if sources are to be believed, two others connected with the case managed to escape the law due to political influence.
File Photo
It is said that the accused Shubhakumar and Sudheer, after luring the child into a school bus and committing the crime, dropped her home in an auto rickshaw.
Sources said that two others had given shelter to the two accused, after the parents of the girl complained to the school.
As per law, the two persons, though not directly involved in the sexual assault case, should have been in custody for helping the accused, just as brothers of the main accused in the Manipal gang-rape case who allegedly destroyed evidence.
Sources said that one of the two also happens to be a worker in a political party, and soon after he was taken for questioning by the police, a local leader of his party intervened and put pressure on the police to release him. He also reportedly instructed the police not to file any case against the two, a source said.
The incident took place on September 16 when an LKG student of Madhavakripa School missed her usual school bus and was lured into another bus by the two accused. They then allegedly assaulted her sexually and left her home by auto rickshaw. The girl revealed the incident to her parents two days later, and a complaint was filed towards the end of last week. On Monday September 23, scores of parents protested at the school, and the management promised to take stringent steps to improve security. Meanwhile, the accused were sent to judicial custody till October 5.