A 23-year-old woman has been allegedly raped in front of her one-year-old son by her boss during a field trip to Kodagu

BENGALURU: A 23-year-old woman has been allegedly raped in front of her one-year-old son by her boss during a field trip to Kodagu. In January this year, Priya (name changed), the victim, had joined as a customer care executive in a private firm which supplies housing materials for buildings under construction. The office is located at Kogilu cross in Yelahanka. Barely two months after she started working, one of the partners of the firm identified as T Vivekananda started allegedly harassing her for sexual favours.

But the victim is said to have warned him and had kept a distance from him, threatening that she would report the matter to the police.

The accused later hatched a plot to trap the victim and fixed a field trip to Kodagu, making it compulsory for her to attend. As Kodagu was Priya’s native place and as her mother also stayed there, she agreed to the trip. Since the other business partner was also with them, Priya did not suspect any foul play. She also took her son with her for the trip which was in the month of April. The accused had booked a single room at a five-star hotel at Virajpet, and forced the victim to stay in the same room with both the business partners.

Priya said she wanted to visit her mother and then join her boss, who had asked her to show him around Kodagu. But her mother advised her not to visit her due to the sighting of some wild animals nearby. The next morning, the other business partner left for Bengaluru due to some emergency and the victim was along with her son and the accused, in one room, said an officer part of the investigations.

During her stay in the hotel and when the victim was having a bath, the accused is said to have filmed it. He then sought sexual favours from her, but was again warned.

But the accused, after showing the victim her bathing video, threatened to show it to her husband and also upload it online. This is when he took advantage of the situation and raped her. He continued raping for her the next few days. The accused had even rented a separate flat on Jakkur Road and had introduced the victim as his wife to the security guards and neighbours in the apartment. Fearing that the accused would upload the video online, the victim played along till her husband found out.

“After her husband learnt about the incident, the victim claims to have narrated her ordeal to him. The couple then decided to file a complaint. The North East division police have registered a complaint in this regard a few days back. Knowing that a complaint was being registered against him, the accused fled to Andhra Pradeshand is still on the run. He is also trying to obtain bail from a lower court,” said the officer.

The police are yet to ascertain if the other business partner who was with the accused during the field trip was aware of the motive behind the trip.

When Mirror called the firm of the accused, a marketing executive claimed the latter was not in Bengaluru and had not been coming to office for the last few weeks. Further investigations are on.

Bureau Report