A dance choreographer has been arrested for the attempted rape on a college student past-midnight on Saturday, identifying the accused with the help of artificial intelligence-equipped cameras, police said.
On Monday, the police announced the arrest of Mukeshwaran alias Mukesh, 24, a resident of S R Nagar near Adugodi. The accused is a skating instructor and dance choreographer from Tamil Nadu and he has been living in Bengaluru with his family since 2003.
Police produced the accused before a magistrate on Monday evening.
DCP (South-East) Sarah Fathima confirmed the arrest and said that the accused had no criminal history.
Around 1.15am on Sunday, a college student was returning after visiting her friends and she took a hitch ride from Mukesh. Instead of dropping her at her desired destination, he allegedly took her to an isolated place and attempted to rape her.
However, by then, the victim had raised an SOS to her father and two friends. As her father was not in town, her friends turned up at the spot and shifted her to a hospital. Her friends told the police that the accused ran away after spotting them.
A case was registered under Section 64 (rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the HSR Layout police station. “The victim was in shock… however, she managed to give a statement. Based on her inputs, we started scanning footage of CCTV cameras in a nearly 10km radius. We zeroed in on a white two-wheeler. In the CCTV footage, the man can be seen pushing the two-wheeler around 2.04am. Then, we checked the database, it led us to areas that Mukeshwaran had travelled, which helped in nabbing the accused,” a police officer said.
Police said the woman took a hitch ride after the car she was travelling in with her friends hit an auto-rickshaw. There was a commotion after the minor accident and the woman chose to leave the place in an auto-rickshaw. Police said, after travelling some distance, she got down and took a hitch ride from Mukesh, who took the two-wheeler to an isolated place near Bommanahalli and attempted to rape her.
She not only resisted the accused but also fought him, said a police officer.
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