Bengaluru college student arrested for allegedly raping senior on campus

A 22-year-old student from a private engineering college in Bengaluru has been arrested for allegedly raping a senior student on campus, police confirmed on Oct 17.

The accused, identified as Jeevan Gowda, was taken into custody following a complaint filed by the survivor at the Hanumanthanagar police station and has since been remanded to judicial custody.

Police said the incident occurred on Oct 10 within the college premises but was reported five days later, after the survivor, a seventh-semester student, informed her parents.

“Both the survivor and the accused were known to each other and studied at the same institution, though Jeevan was a year behind due to academic backlogs,” an officer familiar with the investigation said.

According to the complaint, the survivor met Jeevan during lunch to collect some materials when he allegedly called her to the seventh floor near the architecture block.

“When she resisted and tried to leave, he forcibly dragged her to the men’s toilet on the sixth floor and raped her,” the officer said, adding that the accused took away her phone during the assault.

The survivor, reportedly traumatized, filed a complaint several days later with her parents’ support.

Investigators have initiated forensic examinations, though the lack of CCTV cameras in the area has made evidence collection more challenging.

The incident has sparked political outrage, with opposition leaders criticizing the state government’s handling of women’s safety.

BJP leader R Ashok said the case reflected a “complete breakdown of law and order,” citing data that over 979 sexual assault cases involving girls have been registered in Karnataka in the past four months, including 114 in Bengaluru.

“The brutal rape in Bengaluru and the rising crimes against women show the moral and administrative failure of this government. The safety of women and children cannot be compromised,” Ashok said in a post on X, urging the state to take strict action.