Woman from West Bengal gang-raped near Bengaluru, cops hunt for accused

While Karnataka was busy celebrating bursting crackers on the occasion of Diwali on Tuesday (October 21), a woman from West Bengal was allegedly gang-raped by three youths in Gangondanahalli in Bangalore Rural district the same night, cementing the question that lingers about women's safety in the state and its capital Bengaluru, located around 25 kilometres away from the place of occurrence.

The accused broke into the survivor’s rented house, where they committed the crime. The woman was later rescued, and she was receiving treatment in a hospital. It was reported that the accused were in an inebriated state. They fled after the incident.

Also read: Three arrested for assault, rape threat to woman doctor in Bengal

A case was registered at Madanayakanahalli Police Station, under the jurisdiction of which the incident took place. The police launched a search operation to catch the suspects. They were also probing whether the woman and the alleged perpetrators were acquaintances.

Bengaluru's growing cases of crime against women

This is not the first time such crimes against women have taken place in Bengaluru, India’s IT capital. In February, a 35-year-old woman from Delhi, who went out to meet her friends late in the night, was abducted and gang-raped by four men in a posh Koramangala area.

Also read: Bengaluru student raped inside college's men's toilet; accused asked 'do you need pill'

The accused were later arrested from Bengal and Uttarakhand. Similarly, last August, a young woman who met with an accident under the influence of alcohol in Koramangala was sexually assaulted by some men in a secluded warehouse in the HSR Layout area.

The number of cases is on the rise in Bengaluru, indicating a growing concern over the lack of safety for women.

According to police data, Bengaluru saw 116 rape cases in 2021, 153 cases in 2022, 176 cases in 2023, while 165 registered cases till the end of November 2024. Karnataka saw 549 cases till the end of July 2025.

Also read: Police rule out gang rape angle in Durgapur crime, arrest survivor’s 'friend'

In April this year, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara came under criticism from the public as well as Opposition parties for saying in connection with violence against a young woman at the city’s BTM Layout, “Bangaluru is a large city, and incidents of harassment occur here and there.”

(This article was first published in The Federal Karnataka)