Bengaluru: Nursing student raped by PG owner after confessing to theft; accused held
Bengaluru: An incident has been reported from Bengaluru on Wednesday where a nursing student was allegedly raped by the owner of a paying guest (PG) accommodation after she confessed to a theft, officials said.
The police have arrested the accused.
The arrested person has been identified as 35-year-old Ravi Teja Reddy, the owner of the PG facility.
According to the police, Reddy raped the 21-year-old woman after she admitted to stealing three gold rings from another girl residing in the same PG.
Following the victim’s complaint, Reddy has been booked for rape and taken into police custody.
The victim, a nursing graduate from Andhra Pradesh, had joined the PG only a week prior to the incident and was searching for a job, the police said.
Investigations revealed that the victim had allegedly stolen three gold rings from another PG inmate.
She had also disconnected the CCTV camera wire during the theft.
However, she asked another inmate whether the CCTV footage would still be recorded despite the wire of the CCTV camera being cut.
This conversation was shared with Reddy, which raised his suspicion on the nurse.
Reddy then summoned the victim for questioning and threatened to hand her over to the police.
The girl reportedly confessed to the theft, after which Reddy instructed his aides to retrieve the hidden valuables, police added.
When the victim pleaded with Reddy to forgive her and not to inform the police, he allegedly slapped her and sexually assaulted her.
Initially hesitant to file a complaint, the victim later confided in a male friend.
The friend then contacted a city-based advocate, who helped lodge a formal complaint with the police.
Based on the complaint, the police sent the victim for a medical examination and arrested the accused.
Reddy has been booked under Sections 64(1), 74, and 75(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.
In her complaint, the victim said that Reddy initially touched her private parts under the pretext of checking her.
When she resisted, he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex.
The FIR further mentions that the victim, unable to control her urge to vomit after the assault, ran to the restroom.
Reddy followed her and allegedly forced her to have unnatural sex again.
The victim also said that Reddy later threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone.
It was only after the victim’s friends came to her support that she gathered the courage to file a complaint.
