Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Oct 18: The 6th additional district sessions and disposal of sexual offences court here has held an auto rickshaw driver guilty of raping a minor. Finding that charges framed against Harish Gowda (26), an auto rickshaw driver from Kundadka in Kenja village of Beltangady taluk have been proved, the court, in its verdict dated October 17, reserved its orders on quantum of sentence.
The court is likely to announce quantum of punishment during next week.
Uppinangady police, who had registered a case of rape against Harish, had charged him of raping the victim on September 13, 2012. The girl in question, who was aged 13, was a ninth standard student. She used to attend school by staying with the family of her maternal uncle. As the school had held a programme of distribution of bicycles on that fateful day, the girl, who availed the opportunity to visit her mother, was going back to the house of her maternal uncle, when she was spotted by a person named Dinesh, who was travelling by an auto rickshaw driven by Harish Gowda. Dinesh, who knew the girl well, invited her to travel to her uncle's home with him. After Dinesh alighted from the auto rickshaw at his home on the way, Harish promised to drop the girl at her uncle's house.
Harish, instead of taking the girl to her uncle's home, drove his three-wheeler to a secluded spot in the reserve forest area in Yennegadde village, where he raped her. After threatening the girl not to reveal what had transpired, he dropped her off near her uncle's home. The girl, who was unable to stomach what had happened to her, revealed the details to her mother a week later. A complaint was thereafter filed in Uppinangady police station, and Harish was arrested the next day.
Uppinangady police inspector, Suresh Kumar, filed charge sheet in the court on December 20, 2012, and hearing began on June 6, 2014. After hearing the case and examining 18 witnesses, judge of the court, S H Pushpanjali Devi, came to the conclusion that charges of rape levelled against Harish Gowda have been proved beyond reasonable doubts.
In this case, the prosecution was represented by public prosecutor, K Shivaprasad Alva.