How a ‘juice offer’ turned into nightmare: Karnataka woman drugged, raped on way to her brother’s house

DAVANAGERE: Six days after a 41-year-old woman was drugged, forced to consume spiked drink and sexually assaulted in Davanagere district, police Tuesday arrested 10 persons, including a minor, on charges of gang rape.

Police said the accused allegedly took her photos and made videos of the ghastly crime. Police seized bikes and mobile phones from the suspects, who are in the 20-30 age group. The incident took place under Basavapatna police station limits in Channagiri taluk of Davanagere district.

According to police, the woman, a mother of two, fought with her alcoholic husband and walked out of the house in anger on the evening of June 3. Upset with her husband's drunken behaviour and frequent quarrels, the woman started walking towards her brother's house in the neighbouring village, 2km away.

Police said a boy approached her and asked if she wanted a glass of juice as she was looking exhausted. According to FIR, the woman accepted the offer and drank what she believed was juice from a bottle. Immediately, she started feeling drowsy. The FIR quoted her as saying later that the accused had laced the drink with a sedative.

Later, the boy and another person offered to drop the woman to her brother's village. "But they took me to a field and committed the crime with more youths. Feeling dizzy and unaware of where I was, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I reached my brother's house around 3.20am," the victim said in a complaint.

After discovering that her photos and videos were circulating on mobile phones, the survivor's family filed a complaint on Monday night.

Police arrested 10 suspects on charges of gang rape, filming photos and videos. The arrested accused were identified as Chataki Nagaraj, Istari Nagaraj, Madhu, Arjun, Basavanta, Kundur Maruti, Manu, Jogi Sunil and Pradeep. The SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act has also been invoked.

Davanagere superintendent of police HT Shekhar said they have filed an FIR following a complaint from the survivor's family members and promised justice to the survivor.