Youth thrashed for ‘sending’ obscene message to girl near Bengaluru, nine arrested

Bengaluru police have arrested a group of nine youths who allegedly assaulted and tortured a student after disrobing him in an isolated place, made a video of the attack referring to the Renukaswamy murder case, in which film actor Darshan was arrested. 

The victim Kushal, 18, was reportedly in a relationship with a girl, who broke up with him and is presently in a relationship with another boy. Enraged by this, Kushal allegedly started harassing her by sending indecent and lewd messages. The girl reportedly complained to her friend, who called Kushal to sort out the issues by talking it out.

However, when he turned up, a group of nine youths, eight of them students, allegedly abducted him and took him to an isolated place where he was forced to disrobe and was beaten up by the gang. One of them recorded the assault on his mobile phone.

In the video that has now gone viral, one of the accused says this case is akin to the Renukaswamy murder case before holding the camera before the victim and introducing him as Renukaswamy and the prime accused in the case.

Kushal sustained severe injuries due to the alleged assault and torture.

On June 11, 2024, Kannada film actor Darshan and his partner Pavithra Gowda were arrested, along with their associates, for allegedly abducting Renukaswamy for sending indecent messages to Ms. Gowda on Instagram. Renukaswamy was a fan of the actor. He was employed in a medical store in Chitradurga. He was allegedly tortured to death in a shed at Pattandur Agrahara in Bengaluru on June 8, 2024.

In this case, Kushal was assaulted, tortured and let go by the accused. He later filed a complaint with the Soladevanahalli police, based on which police arrested Hemanth, Yeshwanth, Shivashankar, Shashank Gowda and four others, all students, and Salman, who works in a private firm. They have been charged with abduction, assault and criminal intimidation.