Mangaore : Dakshina Kannada police are questioning a person identified as Santosh Rao hailing from Karkala in connection with the rape and murder of a 17-year-old college student in Dharmasthala on Tuesday night.

Superintendent of police Abhishek Goyal said, “The person is mentally unsound. He was under treatment in Shimoga. We are questioning him in his father’s presence.”

It may be recalled that on Thursday, locals who spotted Rao sitting alone at Gommata Betta, Dharmasthala caught hold of him and assaulted him suspecting that he had committed the crime.

Police sources said he admitted to raping the girl, but it could not be verified as it is suspected that there were other persons involved in the heinous act.-Times of India