Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur

Updated

Kundapur, Apr 11: In a shocking incident, a pregnant lady was allegedly gang-raped and murdered at her home in Gopady under Beejady gram panchayat limits at Koteshwar here on Saturday April 11. One of the suspects has been arrested but the police have not divulged his name yet.

The victim has been identified as Indira Mogaveera (30), wife of Anand, a fisherman at Malpe.

Sources said that at around 4 pm, when Indira had gone to take bath, three to four men forcibly entered the bathroom and raped and killed her by smashing her head with a heavy stone. However, the police said that they entered not the bathroom but a shed adjacent to the house where Indira had gone to collect firewood.

When the men spotted another woman from the neighbourhood approaching the house, they fled from the spot. The woman, however, caught sight of them, it is learnt.

Indira was six months pregnant. She was alone at home when the incident took place. Her husband comes home from Malpe only once a week or so, while Indira's sister and her daughter who stay with her were away picking cashews. Indira's younger brother usually returns home only at night.

Based on the statement of the woman who had seen the culprits running away, the  Kundapur police arrested a resident of Beejady. Sources said that blood stains were found on his hands and legs. However, his name has not been divulged so far.

Indira got married to Anand about five years ago and the couple has a two-and-a-half-year-old son.

The body has been sent to Manipal for post-mortem.

Kundapur police arrived at the spot. Canine squad and fingerprint experts too arrived.

The family is poor, with not even electricity in the house. The police who came to investigate had to use a lantern in order to file the FIR.

Circle inspector Diwakar P M, former president of zilla panchayat education and health standing committee T Shriyan, Beejady gram panchayat member Ravindra Doddamane, social worker Ganesh Putran, and others visited the spot.

Expressing anger at the government over this, ZP member Ganapati Shriyan said that it is the government's responsibility to provide basic amenities to every household. "It is wrong to deny basic amenities on the pretext of CRZ rules," he said.

Meanwhile DYFI leader Satish Kumar Tekkatte urged the police to arrest the culprits soon and warned that if the police fail, the DYFI would hold a protest.

Kundapur police have registered a case and investigations are on.