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Bangalore : The men, who raped a 15-year-old girl after rendering her unconscious at the Sisters of Holy Nativity seminary in Hennur on Wednesday, scribb­led a chilling message on her left leg, below the knee: “If you do not give money, we will publish your photos.” The incident has shocked the residents of Bairaweshari Nagar in Hennur Bannde, where the seminary is located. They complained of lack of police patrolling in the area.

Shobha, a resident, said, “Of late, we have not seen police patrolling the area. This particular incident has worried us about our younger ones. The area is isolated and there is not much movement of people during most part of the day.”

There is a huge vacant land, just 100 metres from the seminary where the girl was raped. The land is used for all kinds of illegal activities, said Emanuel (name changed), who stays close to the house of the sisters. “The construction labourers of a nearby apartment create a lot of nuisance. Once when my wife went to spread clothes on the terrace, the labourers hooted and whistled at her. After the day’s work, they are seen loitering around in gangs.”

The resident also mentioned that for the last few weeks, many men and women, who claim to be from north India, were doing rounds, knocking on the gates of the houses for donation. “When we ask them why they are collecting money, they keep quiet.

When any woman attends to them, they ask such questions as ‘Are you alone at home?’ Or ‘When will the people in the house get back?’,” he said. Other residents spoke up against the ruckus created by foreign students living in the locality. “We cannot talk about that problem as it’s a sensitive issue,” they said.

A member of Bairaweshari Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association said, “Beat constables used to make an entry in the register but now the practice has been stopped; sometimes we spot the constables doing rounds. We need more intense monitoring of the area.”

DCP (East) Satish Kumar told Deccan Herald that the police patrolling in the area would be increased and the force would do everything to prevent untoward incidents. In the wake of the large number of foreign students living in the locality, the officer spoke of plans to make it mandatory for foreign nationals to report to the local police station before renting a house. The house owner should also inform the police about the tenants, he said.

The rape victim, who hails from Chintalapudi town in West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, is being treated at a hospital. “Once she is in a position to talk, we will gather information from her about the strangers. Two special teams have been formed to nab the culprits,” a police officer said.

Nuns in shock after girl in Indian convent raped, left unconscious

A teenage girl living in a Catholic convent outside Bangalore city was raped and left unconscious by the perpetrators on Wednesday, authorities said after India’s latest violation against a young woman.

The victim, a 16-year-old girl, was on the ground floor of the convent of the Sisters of Holy Nativity in Henner when the facility’s doorbell rang, ucanews.org reported.

Church officials said the attack was symptomatic of the increase in rape crimes in India.

A friend of the girl and a senior nun were inside the convent.

All the young woman remembered was the suspects sprayed some substance on her face which left her unconscious, Bangalore Archbishop Bernard Moras said.

She was found in a gap between the walls of the building and the convent’s compound outside. The victim was rushed to a nearby clinic, and moved to a hospital to receive further treatment.
Moras said the girl also recalled there were at least two persons who raped her.

Authorities said the incident is being investigated and police have so far made no arrest.

Police lamented that the attack was reported to them 24 hours later than the incident.

They said the timing was crucial because it would have allowed authorities to conduct a manhunt operation immediately, a police official said.

S. Siddappa, additional commissioner of police in Bangalore, also ruled out the likelihood of the attack being related to the girl’s religious beliefs.

But initial investigation confirmed that the girl was raped following medical findings.

"It is the work of some criminals and nothing to do with any religious hatred," he said, noting the rape reflected the grim state of affairs in India. "It is part of a growing problem across India."

Moras said the convent staff members were in shock, which contributed to the delay in the reporting of the crime to the police.

Statistics from India’s National Crime Records Bureau show that almost three people are raped every hour in the country.

In 2013, police recorded 24,923 rape cases, which included the rape of minors.

"The sad part is that the central issue of morality is going down in the country. People seem to be not taking rape seriously," Moras said.

On July 2, a six-year-old girl was also raped in a school in Bangalore. Police have arrested the suspects, a school sports teacher and an assistant, in connection with the crime.

Onlookers stand at the site where two teenage girls, who were raped, were hanged from a tree at Budaun district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh May 31, 2014. India’s new Home Minister Rajnath Singh weighed in on Friday in a grisly case in which two teenage girls were raped and hanged from a tree this week in Uttar Pradesh, as public anger and political controversy over the attack gain momentum.Photo: REUTERS / Anindito Mukherjee

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