Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday hinted that the state police should deal with the accused in the Mysuru gangrape case in the way that the Hyderabad Police dealt with the accused in a local rape case in 2019, The Indian Express reported.
On December 6, 2019, four accused in a rape and murder case in Hyderabad were shot dead by the police on a national highway near the city. The police had claimed that the accused attempted to flee while being taken to the murder site to reconstruct the sequence of events. They allegedly snatched a weapon and fired at the police, forcing the personnel to shoot back.
In Mysuru district, police said a group of five men raped a woman on Tuesday on the outskirts of the city.
Kumaraswamy said he appreciated the Hyderabad Police for how it dealt with the case in 2019. “What did they do finally?” he asked. “Unless stringent action is taken, things will not improve. Culprits in a sexual assault case usually get jail time and then secure bail. This is not effective to control such crimes.”
The former chief minister advised the state government to “handle it delicately and follow what was done in Hyderabad.”
Kumaraswamy added that the Karnataka state government was at fault in the matter, ANI reported. “It should not allow youngsters to have liquor in open deserted spaces,” he said.
On Friday, Karnataka Tourism Minister Anand Singh also issued a strongly-worded reaction to the gangrape. “Everything of the perpetrators should be chopped off,” PTI quoted him as saying. “Such incidents should not have happened.”
Senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said that the police were investigating the case with sincerity and were working beyond their capacity on the case, according to PTI.
The case
A group of five men allegedly gangraped the woman and assaulted her male friend near Chamundi Hills near Mysuru.
The men, who were reportedly drunk, accosted the woman and her friend and demanded money from them. When they refused to give money, the group attacked them.
A First Information Report has been registered at the Alanahalli police station. Both the woman and her friend are undergoing treatment.
On Thursday, the National Commission for Women said on Thursday that it has taken cognisance of the case.
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