A week after Monson Mavunkal, a fake antique dealer from Kerala, was booked by the police for the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in 2013, one of his staff members was arrested by the Crime Branch on Sunday, in the same case. The staff identified as Joshi, who was working as Monson's makeup man, was arrested following a statement given by the survivor, The Hindu reported. According to reports, Joshi also allegedly sexually assaulted the girl.
It was after Monson was arrested by the police last month for cheating several people of several crore rupees by posing to be a highly influential antique dealer, that the survivor and her family filed a police complaint about the sexual assault. They alleged that the survivor was sexually assaulted on assurances that Monson would help her get admission into a college. According to reports, the family had earlier refrained from filing a complaint as they were afraid of Monson.
Last week, on the survivor's complaint that she was sexually assaulted multiple times and was impregnated by Monson, he was arrested by the police, and charged with sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Acy. Joshy, Monson's staff member, has also been charged under POCSO. He was arrested by the Crime Branch from his house in Kochi, and was later in the day, produced in court.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Forest Department officials confiscated two suspected whale bones from the house of Monson's acquaintance. Reports suggest that the artefacts were shifted to his acquaintance's house following raids in Monson's house last month. Officials have collected samples of the artefacts to confirm whether the objects are indeed whale bones.
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