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 body was found on October 9 with multiple stab injuries. “The child was sleeping with her family in a temporary shed, and at around 4 am, the mother woke up and noticed that one child was missing. Upon searching, they found the dead body of the child around 50 metres away from the shed,” the Mysuru police said last week. During the investigation, the police obtained CCTV footage that allegedly showed Karthik boarding a private bus to Kollegal. The police fired at him after he allegedly tried to evade arrest, police sources said. The police probe and court records related to Karthik reveal that he was involved in a violent crime with sexual connotations in 2019 against a young woman living in a private hostel and was convicted to four years in prison for attempt to murder on February 22, 2025, by a sessions court in Kollegal, but was acquitted of charges of sexual harassment. The 2019 crime, the trial, and then bail According to the court records, on October 26, 2019, Karthik allegedly dragged the young woman from a bridge to a river in Kollegal while she was returning from work to a women's hostel. She was rescued by witnesses who heard her cries and came to her rescue. Karthik tried to kill the woman after she resisted his attack, the probe found. During the course of the trial, witnesses described Karthik as being unstable and often drunk during periods when he worked as a cleaner on private buses. He was granted bail on three occasions but jumped bail on each occasion and was re-arrested by the Kollegal police. According to court records, Karthik was first granted bail on December 31, 2019, and was arrested again on August 1, 2022, for jumping bail. He was granted bail a second time on September 17, 2022, and jumped bail before he was re-arrested on February 4, 2024. The courts granted Karthik bail for the third time on June 5, 2024, where he jumped bail again and was re-arrested on July 1, 2024. He remained in prison through the subsequent period of the trial of the 2019 case and was convicted by a Kollegal sessions court on February 22, 2025. The trial court noted that Karthik was only 22 years old when he committed the crime in 2019 and took a lenient view to facilitate reform. The court acquitted him of charges of sexual harassment by observing that the victim had stated that he was trying to murder her. “When we look into the age of the accused, there are chances of reforming and to lead a good life in the future. Though it is true that the sentence shall fulfil the object of the legislation, but when we consider the age of the accused, if lenient view is considered, the ends of justice would be adequately met,” the Kollegal sessions court observed. “Hence, by considering the nature of the act and injuries inflicted to PW-1, which are simple in nature, and age of the accused, this court is of the opinion that if the accused is sentenced for four years’ simple imprisonment and fine of Rs 5,000, the ends of justice would be adequately met with,” the court added. Karthik was in prison for five months after the conviction before the Karnataka High Court granted him bail on August 5, 2025, on the basis of a bail application filed in July. “Having considered the submission of the learned counsel for the appellant and also perused the findings of the trial court and punishment imposed by the trial court for the above said offence without adverting to the merit of the case, it is appropriate to grant bail by suspending the sentence for the reason that the maximum punishment imposed is for four years,” a single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court said on August 5 this year in an interim order. “Moreover, the State has not preferred any appeal for enhancement of sentence,” the high court observed while suspending the Kollegal sessions court conviction order of February 22. Karthik was released on a personal bond of ₹ 1 lakh and a surety of the same sum. Following the child’s murder, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who hails from Mysuru, has taken a serious view of the incident and held a meeting with the police on Sunday regarding crimes in Mysuru city and the police action in these cases.
