By Anurag Paul

In a shocking episode, reminiscent of the recent gang rape of a nun in Kolkata, a young nun was allegedly kidnapped and manhandled in a broad daylight by four men in Mangaluru on Monday. However, as luck would have it, the nun in this case managed to escape from the clutches of the assailants, just in the nick of time.

The nun doing her nursing course in a city private hospital was allegedly waylaid by four men near Pumpwell as she climbed down from the bus she was travelling.

It is learnt that the men pushed her into an auto where they gagged and manhandled her. The nun, though, used her presence of mind and jumped out of the auto once the vehicle slowed down. In the scrimmage, though, she had minor injuries and lost her handbag and watch.

She was later offered a helping hand by a passer-by who took her to the hospital.

It is alleged that when she went to register a complaint to Mangalore East (Kadri) police station, her complaint was not accepted. She was rather sent to the Mangalore rural police station.

Opposition leaders of the state have expressed displeasure at the slackness of the police in assessing the seriousness of the case as the FIR was registered only at 6 p.m. at the Mangalore rural police station, though the incident took place at noon. The case has been booked under sections 392 (robbery) and 363 (kidnap) of the Indian Penal Code.

The nun is admitted in a city private hospital where her condition is reported to be stable, though she is still in a state of shock. The doctors attending to her have said that it will take time for to recover from the physical and mental turmoil.

The recent mishandling of nun and the mysterious death case of 2009-batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer D K Ravi is increasingly getting shriller making it a tough job for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.