Bengaluru: A departmental inquiry will be held against police constable Arun Thonepa who was arrested and handed over to judicial custody on charges of raping a minor girl. Thonepa has been suspended from service.
“What happened is unfortunate. If the accused is found guilty in the departmental inquiry, he will be dismissed from service,” police commissioner B Dayananda said on Tuesday.
Police constable Arun Thonepa, attached to Bommanahalli police station in the south-east division, was accused of raping the 17-year-old minor girl inside a hotel room.
The girl’s mother lodged a complaint on Feb 13 against her neighbour Vickey and Arun, saying they raped her daughter. Vickey, a married man, developed a physical relationship with the girl, promising to marry her. Her mother had in Dec last year approached Bommanahalli police seeking their intervention. Accordingly, police summoned Vickey and warned him. They also advised the girl, saying Vickey was already a married man and she was still a minor to think of marriage.
“Meanwhile, Vickey, after returning from the station, sought help from Arun in handling the issue. The girl was refusing to distance herself from Vickey. Knowing this, Arun allegedly took money from Vickey saying he would convince the girl not to precipitate the matter. Further, Arun befriended the minor and took her to a hotel room in BTM Layout on two occasions, where he forced her to drink beer mixed with sleeping pills. Then, he sexually abused her and threatened her with dire consequences if she filed a police complaint or disclosed the matter to anyone. He also threatened to upload pictures and videos of her recorded inside the hotel room,” a senior police officer said.
On Feb 13, police arrested Vickey. However, Arun, knowing that FIR has been registered against him, fled from his native place, Belagavi, and hid in a friend’s house. Police nabbed him on Feb 17.