Two held for gang rape in Bengaluru

The driver and cleaner of a van were arrested on Tuesday for gang-raping a woman who they picked up in their van on October 3, police said.

Yogesh, 27, and Sunil, 23, were arrested after the 22-year-old woman lodged a police complaint on Monday that they raped her in their moving van after they offered to drop her at her paying guest house, police commissioner N.S. Megharik told reporters.

In a reminiscent of the horrific gang rape in Delhi on December 16, 2012, the woman was waiting at a bus stop with her friend on Saturday night (around 10 p.m.) when the accused stopped by and picked her up, offering to drop at her home in the upscale HSR layout.

"Though her friend dissuaded the woman not to go in the van, as it had no other passenger then, she boarded it, as she did not get a bus or auto at the odd hour and was getting late in returning home," Megharik said, recalling what the woman told police while narrating the sequence of events.

According to the police complaint, the accused took the van to a deserted spot and gang-raped her by turns and dumped her at Madiwala in the early hours of Sunday.

"The woman, who hails from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, later called her sister with whom she stays, and got admitted to a private hospital for treatment.

"She lodged the complaint on her sister's insistence after she got discharged from the hospital on Monday," Megharik said.

After registering the case, police launched a massive hunt for the duo and their van across the city with details from the woman, including their description and the vehicle colour and its number plate.