A 25-year-old man arrested for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Mysuru on October 9 had jumped bail on four occasions in connection with a 2019 case involving sexual harassment and a violent attack on a young woman in Kollegal. Despite his conviction in the case, he was released on bail recently by the Karnataka High Court, police investigations and court records have revealed.

The latest incident took place when the 10-year-old child of a balloon seller from a nomadic family was in Mysuru for the Dasara festival in the first week of October. She was kidnapped on the night of October 8 while she was sleeping in a temporary shelter with her mother and siblings. The Mysuru police tracked down the suspect, Karthik, to Kollegal using CCTV footage and other clues, after the child’s

See Full Page