Cops: Honnavar ‘stabbing’ was girl’s own doing

BENGALURU: The "stabbing" of a 12-year-old last week that triggered communal clashes in Honnavar taluk, it turns out, was a falsehood spread by a desperate schoolgirl who was being harassed by a local youth and wanted to skip an exam.
The girl's injuries were self-inflicted, police officials said on Sunday, and that there was no truth to allegations that two members of another community had attacked her. The incident happened at Kodlagadde village on Friday.

Honnavar girl wanted to skip exam

The incident happened at Kodlagadde village near Magod on Friday amid communal tension in the taluk following the recovery of the body of a youth. Superintendent of police Vinayak Patil said the girl, who studies in ninth standard, used to go to school, around 8km away, through a forest.

A local youth, Ganesh Ishwar Naik, had been stalking her for some days, professing love and forcing her to reciprocate. He had, on several occasions, offered to drop her on his bike or in his car. The girl had refused and told her mother who informedthelocal gram panchayat. The panchayat members reportedly admonished Naik for his behaviour but this had no impact on him. The girl was under stress as he continued to harass her, the SP said.

Addedtothis, she was afraid of failing in her studies as she could not go to school for four days prior to Friday due to communal tension. One of her friends informed her about an examination on Friday and she dreaded it as she had not completed her lessons. She was also afraid of encountering Naik when she stepped out. On her way to school, police said, she cut herself in the hand several times with a thorn. When she went to buy bandages, the shopkeeper reportedly asked her why she was bleeding.

Unwilling to divulge the truth, she made up a story about two youths - "one gaunt and another with a beard" - trying to abduct her. She said they stabbed her when she resisted and then fledon a bike when she raised alarm. The shopkeeper and other villagers then added to this, saying they had seen two youths belonging to another community moving on a bike. These statements have been found to be false. But news spread in the taluk and resulted in another bout of violence, the SP said.

Following investigations, the girl confessed before the magistrate. Doctors certified that the injury marks were "hesitation injury marks" inflicted by the girl herself. The SP added that Naik had been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and police teams were out to arrest him.