Bike mechanic, friend held for raping woman near Chikkaballapur

CHIKKABALLAPUR: In a horrific crime, a bike mechanic and his friend allegedly raped a woman when she was walking on the Gauribidanur-Chikkaballapur Main road on the Highway 69 to her village. She could not take the bus as she did not have money or the Aadhaar card with her. The two assailants have been identified as Sikanthar, the mechanic, and his friend Janardhan Achary. Though the incident occurred on Friday, it came to light on Monday. Sources said that when the woman was walking on the road, Sikanthar stopped near her and offered to drop her to her village. When she climbed on the two-wheeler, he took her to an isolated placed. He then called Janardhan to the spot and both men raped her. The two assailants then dropped near her village and sped away. A social worker, Shilpa, noticed the rape survivor with torn clothes near the village and asked her what happened. After learning about the sexual assault, she helped the survivor file a complaint at the womens police station. The police formed a special team, which nabbed the culprits with the help of video footage from a CCTV camera at a petrol bunk on the highway.