Bajrang Dal worker arrested under Pocso

Police said that Nitesh was in a relationship with the deceased minor girl who consumed poison on Jan 11 and later died on Jan 14

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Intensifying their probe in a suicide case of a female student, the Chikkamagaluru police on Tuesday afternoon nabbed the accused, Nitesh, who was on the run for the last six days.

The 25-year-old is said to be a member of a right-wing militant outfit. Police said that Nitesh was in a relationship with the deceased minor girl who consumed poison on January 11 and later died at the AJ Hospital in Mangaluru on January 14.

The deceased, Deepti, is the daughter of Channappa Gowda, a resident of Jogikumbri village. According to Gowda, his daughter and Nitesh were in love. Deepti in her death note had written that Nitesh was responsible for her death.

According to sources, when the parents of the deceased wanted to file a complaint against the accused, the Kudremukh police initially hesitated to take up the case. The outraged parents then too their complaint to the notice of the district superintendent of police who registered a case against Nitesh.

However, Nitesh disappeared from the village in order to evade arrest. A search was initiated by the police after which he was caught near the Chikkamagaluru bus stand on Tuesday. "People are saying that he was part of the BJP and the Bajrang Dal. But I don’t know that. I don’t care. I want justice," said Gowda.

Nitesh has been booked under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 12 (sexual harassment upon a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The incident caused a lot of public outrage in Kalasa after which the Bajrang Dal claimed to have expelled Nitesh from the outfit.