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A 31-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a nine-year-old girl near the Dasara Exhibition Grounds, was shot in the leg by Mysuru police during, allegedly after he tried to flee from custody.
Karthik, a resident of Siddalingapura, was traced from Kollegal with the help of CCTV footage and technical surveillance on Thursday evening, Mysuru police said.
Police Commissioner Seema Latkar said, “The accused abducted the minor girl while she was asleep, raped her, and then murdered her on Thursday morning. Karthik, a native of Kollegal, was working as a cleaner with a private bus operator.”
She said the accused attempted to escape while being taken for identification. “He attacked police personnel with a broken bottle, injuring two officers. A warning shot was fired in the air, but when he continued to flee, the police shot him in the leg,” Latkar said.
Police said Karthik will be produced before the court after being discharged from hospital. Karthik had been accused in two previous cases — one related to a brawl and another to molestation. He had been convicted and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and was released on bail about three months ago, the Commissioner said.
According to officials, the nine-year-old girl belonging to the Hakki pikki community, was sleeping in a temporary tent near the Dasara Exhibition Grounds along with her family, who had come from Kalaburgi to sell balloons during the recently concluded Mysuru Dasara festival. Karthik allegedly abducted the girl from the tent, sexually assaulted and murdered her and then fled to Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district by a private bus.
After finishing their day’s business and dinner, the couple, their four children, and a relative slept together in one spot, while the minor slept beside her grandmother. Around 5 am, the parents woke up due to rain to cover their tent with a tarpaulin, only to discover the child missing.
Her body was found around 6 am in a ditch near a drainage behind the parking area of the exhibition ground, about 50 metres from their tent.