Bengaluru sexual assault case: Orchids paedophile is Gundanna, say cops

BENGALURU: After several rounds of interrogation, cross-verification of facts and based on repeated statements by the victim and expert opinion, the city police have concluded that it is office assistant Gundanna (45) who raped the three-and-a-half-year-old girl inside Orchids, The International School at Jalahalli.

Addressing a press conference at his office on Saturday evening, City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi said that Gundanna, a resident of A.K. Colony in Jalahalli and an employee of the school for the last two years, was arrested on Saturday.

“Though the needle of suspicion pointed to Gundanna from the day the investigation began, we decided to come to a conclusion only after gathering all evidence. After a thorough inquiry, it is confirmed that Gundanna is the one who sexually assaulted the child and he has been arrested.

The statement of the victim and the confession of the accused have already been recorded before a judge under Section 164 of the CrPC,” Mr Reddi said. He confirmed that the girl was sexually abused on the school premises, but refused to reveal where and when the incident took place.

“We are still probing the case and it is not appropriate to give out all the details now. The case has been cracked based on the firm statement of the victim, medical tests, physical examination and other circumstantial evidence,” he said.

A senior police officer said the police came to the conclusion only after taking expert opinion into consideration.

“The girl was taken to psychiatrists, who counseled the girl and made her speak. When they showed her the photo of the accused, the girl told them, ‘How many times should I tell you he is the bad uncle?’ The experts also gathered information from the child and it matched with the suspicion we had.

Then, the accused was physically produced before the child, who identified him. Immediately, he was arrested,” the official said.