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Shruthi: I was told not to talk even to a Hindu boy

Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE: Shruthi, the girl who was abducted in Mangalore on Friday, said the men who dragged her out of the bus in which she was travelling with a Muslim boy told her that she should not talk even to a Hindu boy, let alone a Muslim.

She told The Hindu over phone from her residence in Kasaragod that three men entered the bus, dragged her and Shabeeb out and took them in an autorickshaw to a place not known to her. A few men followed the vehicle on bikes. After a 20-25-minute ride, the vehicle stopped on a muddy road where there were a few houses. More than 10 youths gathered there and shouted at her.

“I told them that I am from Kerala and that I have an examination to attend and pleaded with them to let us go. They released me and asked me to go back in the autorickshaw.” The men continued to assault Shabeeb.

She then reached the house of a family friend, where her father, C.N. Kunhambu, too arrived. Later she lodged a complaint with the police in the presence of her father, who is the MLA representing Manjeshwar in Kerala.

Shruthi, a II PU student of St. Aloysius College here, said she was “quite disturbed,” but was able to control “my emotions” and attend physics practicals on Saturday.

“Many such incidents”

Mr. Kunhambu told The Hindu that the crew of the bus his daughter and her friend were travelling in had not been arrested. He alleged that the crew had passed on the information of their travelling together, following which the abduction took place.

Mr. Kunhambu said there was a spurt in such incidents in Mangalore after the BJP came to power in Karnataka. The January 24 pub incident and the one involving his daughter were just two in the series.

Mr. Kunhambu was unhappy that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa chose to blame the Opposition parties for the incident.

Mr. Yeddyurappa reportedly said the Opposition parties had done this keeping the Lok Sabha elections in mind.

Motive under scrutiny

N. Satheesh Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Dakshina Kannada, said that the police were trying to find out if any organisation was behind the abduction.

“We are trying to find out the motive for the abduction. We are investigating all aspects,” he said.

Mr. Kumar said five persons who were arrested were booked under Sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for criminal intimidation and acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention).

Protests in Mangalore

Meanwhile, students and teachers of St. Aloysius Pre-University College staged a protest on the college premises, condemning the incident.

Addressing the gathering, President of the Federation of University and College Teachers’ Associations in Karnataka A.M. Narahari demanded that those responsible for the incident be booked under the Goonda Act.

Associate Dean Ganesh Ameen Sankamar said the incident was an infringement of human rights.

Speaking to presspersons later, acting principal Anil Mascarenhas said Shruthi was a model student.

Activists of ‘Samudaya,’ a social group, staged a protest in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here.

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