Five men, including the husband of a 24-year-old woman in Thiruvananthapuram, have been arrested after she alleged that her husband's friends had sexually assaulted her.
It was on Thursday that the husband had taken the wife and their two children to a friend’s house in Vettuthura. The woman was sexually assaulted by four of the men after they abducted her when she tried to escape from the house. Though the woman maintained that the husband did not assault her, she has expressed doubts that he set her up and left her at the house.
The arrested four other men, in addition to her husband, are Mansoor, Akbar, Rajan and Manoj, all natives of Thiruvananthapuram. According to the police, Mansoor and Akbar are the first and the second accused in the case.
The accused men have been arrested under sections 376D (Gang rape), 366 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354 B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, of the Indian Penal Code.
“The men including the husband are also booked under sections of sexual harassment sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as the lady was assaulted in front of the child,” Ratheesh Kumar, Sub Inspector of Kadinamkulam police station, told TNM
According to the statement given by the woman to police, she and the children were taken to the house on Thursday evening, where about six men were present. Her husband then forcefully fed her alcohol. While the husband left the place with one of the children, the woman tried to escape from the house as one of the men allegedly misbehaved with her.
“But she was abducted in a vehicle, taken to a small bushy area and sexually assaulted by the four men. One of the children was also in the spot when the incident happened,” said the Sub Inspector. The woman has also sustained injuries in the assault.
After managing to escape from the place, the woman sought the help of passersby on the road and lodged a complaint at the police station.
The woman and children are at present staying with her parents in Thiruvananthapuram.