DAVANAGERE: Walking home after her dance rehearsal at 9.30pm on Saturday, 19-year-old Kavitha (name changed) heard a bike behind her. It was a friend, Prithvi. He offered her a ride home, and Kavitha hopped on.

It’s a ride she wants to forget, but can’t. Instead of going straight home, Prithvi (22) took Kavitha to a desolate place behind Bapuji Auditorium and attempted to rape her. Kavitha, trained in karate, threw a few punches and fought him bravely.

Enraged by her resistance, Prithvi picked up a boulder and attacked her. He tried to smash her head, and she fell to the ground, bleeding from her head, eye and mouth. She screamed for help but nobody came to her rescue.

Taken aback by her spirited defence, Prithvi fled the spot, and Kavitha crawled back home, her face disfigured and awash with blood.

Prithvi, a college dropout, was arrested on Sunday morning.

Giving details of the assault to the media, Kavitha’s father recounted the trauma of the first-year BCA student. He said Kavitha had recently enrolled in a dance class to perform at a New Year event. She had met Prithvi through a common friend a month ago, and they met frequently. On Saturday night, Prithvi reportedly called Kavitha and asked her where she was. When he turned up on his bike, she wasn’t surprised and accepted a ride home.

“Kavitha is trained in yoga and karate, so she could resist, and almost thrashed him. But she couldn’t do much when he attacked her with a boulder,” said her distraught father. Kavitha lost five front teeth and suffered injuries on her head and eye.

Davanagere SP D Prakash said Kavitha is undergoing treatment at Bapuji Hospital. “She is out of danger. Her face is swollen and she is under medication. She is unable to speak now,” he said.

The accused has alleged he had taken Kavitha on his bike with her consent to a lonely place, where he attempted to rape her. “We’re interrogating the accused to ascertain the truth,” the SP said.