Bengaluru, 17 Oct

A female student of a private engineering college here was allegedly raped by her junior inside the men's washroom on the campus, police said on Friday.

The accused, a fifth-semester student, was known to the survivor, who is studying her seventh semester at the BMS College of Engineering in South Bengaluru’s Basavanagudi.

The accused, who has been identified as Jeevan Gowda, 21, has been arrested on charges of rape and produced before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody.

According to police, in her complaint, the woman stated that the incident took place on 10 October.

According to the FIR, the survivor reached college at 8.55 am and told Jeevan she would meet him in the afternoon to collect some items.

During lunch break, the accused junior student allegedly called the survivor multiple times, persuading her to meet him near the architecture block of the campus. After meeting on the ground floor, she was persuaded into going to the seventh floor with him.

Once there, he allegedly forced himself on her. When she tried to escape him by taking a lift downstairs, he caught up with her on the sixth floor and pulled her into the men’s washroom on the floor. He then locked the door and reportedly raped her.

During the assault, the accused allegedly took away her phone from her when one of her friends called her, the survivor further said in her complaint.

Afterwards, the survivor confided in two of her friends. Later, the accused allegedly called her, asking if she needed a pill (in an apparent reference to the emergency contraceptive pill), and she cut her call.

In her statement, the survivor said, "I didn't tell my parents initially as I was afraid they would be distressed. I was also ashamed. My friends supported me, after which I informed my parents and approached the police seeking action against Jeevan Gowda."

Her parents then filed a complaint at the Hanumanthanagar police station in Bengaluru on 15 October.

A case has been registered under Section 64 (rape) and other relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.