In the wee hours of September 22, a Bengaluru woman was raped allegedly by a driver of the cab she had booked. The incident happened near Murugeshpalya while the woman was returning from work between 3 to 4 am, said an official at the Jeevan Bima Nagar police station. The official said that the investigation in the matter is underway. Based on the woman’s complaint, a First Information Report has been registered under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The woman was returning home from work after a night shift when the incident happened. She has been taken for medical examination and a team of police officials are investigating the case,” said the official without divulging many details. The official added that the accused identified as Devaraj is a native of Andhra Pradesh and that they are yet to locate the accused. Police are yet to arrest the accused and are currently on the lookout for him.

The recent case of gangrape in Mysuru had shocked the state where a student was raped at the foothills of popular tourist spot Chamundi Hills. Her friend was also assaulted by the accused. Karnataka police nabbed five culprits based on technical evidence like train tickets. Subsequently, they also arrested two other accused in the case. 

The National Crime Records Bureau data revealed that Karnataka had reported 3,246 cases of sexual assault and 446 cases of sexual harassment during 2020. The data also revealed that out of a total of 17,003 cases of sexual harassment, Andhra Pradesh had 1,009 cases; meanwhile, Telangana had 2,520 cases of sexual assault against women and 737 cases of sexual harassment. 

The south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu recorded a total of 3,054 cases of sexual assault out of which Kerala reported 2,353 cases and Tamil Nadu 701. The cases of sexual harassment in the two states were 1,193. The Union Territory of Puducherry recorded 25 cases of sexual assault and zero cases of sexual harassment, the data revealed.