A harrowing incident of child sexual abuse has come to light in Karnataka's Bantwal region where a 42-year-old man has been accused of repeatedly raping his 17-year-old daughter. The Bantwal Police are investigating the case. They learned of the abuse suffered by the 17-year-old girl after the arrest of her uncle, who has also been accused of raping her.
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The girl's mother approached the police in Mangaluru on Thursday afternoon and filed a complaint alleging that her brother-in-law, Pradeep*, had raped her daughter. "The girl and her mother had traveled from Bantwal to Ullal to visit Pradeep's ailing mother on Wednesday. Pradeep's mother had taken ill and was admitted to a local hospital. The girl and her mother visited her in the hospital and later gone to Pradeep's (her uncle) home," the Ullal Police said.
Pradeep allegedly raped the minor girl on Wednesday night and threatened her with dire consequences if she spoke about it. "Pradeep is said to have told the victim that she is old enough to be a woman. The next morning, the girl told her mother about the incident after which her mother approached us," the Ullal Police added.
The police have lodged an FIR under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act. "So far Pradeep has been arrested. However, the father has not been arrested since he absconded. We are looking for him," the Bantwal police added. (*Names changed)
