Women offered I-Class seats, raped in Mysore

MYSORE: Two women were allegedly raped in an empty I class coach of the Mysore-Chamarajanagar Passenger train on Saturday. The culprits are said to have promised the victims a ride in the I class coach and then raped them. Rape cases were registered against the accused Arunachala Pillai, 34, gatekeeper at Kukkarahalli Lake level crossing and Santhosh, 30, a salesman at a store in Mysore Railway Station. Passengers, who usually board the empty I class coach attached to the passenger train, grew suspicious when they found it locked from within. At about 1.25 pm at Nanjangud Railway Station, they pulled the chain. Railway police entered the coach and opened the door to coupes H and F and found the accused and the victims. Mysore Railway Police sent the victims for medical examination to the Chaluvamba Hospital while the accused were referred to the Directorate of Forensic Laboratory in Mysore. Cases under 376 of IPC have been booked against the accused who were produced before JMFC Court in Nanjangud. Sources said ticketless travel on the I class coach on the train, which leaves Mysore at 12.30 pm, is not uncommon.