Mangaluru : A undertrial prisoner accused of rape escaped from the Mangaluru District Prison in the early hours of Friday.

Police gave the name of the accused as Jinnappa Parava (42), resident of Gardadi village in Belthangady Taluk. He was arrested in 2015 on charges of raping a 21-year-old girl from Patrame village, then coming under Uppinangady Police limits and now under Dharmasthala police limits. The accused was an agriculture labourer.

Prison officials told that Parava was put on kitchen duty to prepare breakfast. As usual, he was let into the kitchen at 3.30 a.m. and the guards forgot to lock the doors and slept off. Taking opportunity of the situation, Parava scaled the main wall of the prison and escaped, officials said.

While action would be initiated against the staff concerned, prison officials have lodged a complaint with the Barke police in Mangaluru City, which has launched a hunt for the accused.