The Kasargod police arrested two persons on Friday for allegedly holding captive and gang-raping a tribal woman. Two others involved in the crime are at large. The tribal woman, hailing from the northern district of Kasargod in Kerala, was allegedly help captive for two days and gang raped.
The 27-year-old woman, belonging to the Malavettuvan tribe, told The New Indian Express that she was taken to a house by one of the men, after promising her domestic work. The woman named Shiju Damodaran, an autorickshaw driver at Mallom for duping her with the promise of work.
“He offered me domestic work in a house at Parappa, 10 km from Mallom. He asked me to check out the place and said I can return if I did not like. But, he took me to his friend’s place where they held me captive and assaulted for two days,” the mother of three children said.
The incident occurred on February 6 when Shiju picked her up from her residence at around 11 am to show her the house she was to work in. However, he took her to the house of another autorickshaw driver named Shijo and held her captive.
They were later joined by two others, Pradeep Bhaskaran (a mason) and Shinto Thomas (another autorickshaw driver) and they dropped her back to her residence late on the evening of February 7 after allegedly gang-raping her.
Vellarikkundu sub-inspector Rajeevan Valiyavalappil told TNIE that he took the woman's statement after learning about the incident on Friday, and that medical tests had confirmed that the woman was gang-raped.
In another instance, the Maradu police in Kochi arrested a 29-year-old man on Saturday, for allegedly raping a 39-year-old woman at gunpoint.
The accused, Arun MP, a native of Kollam and suspected to be part of an online sex racket, was arrested from Karunagappilly.
According to The Times of India, the incident occurred on January 31 when Arun, along with his accomplice Nazar broke into the victim’s house and raped her after forcing a gun down her throat.
Both the accused then fled the house with an LCD TV from the victim’s house. While Nazar continues to be absconding nearly two weeks after the incident, the police identified him as having a number of criminal cases registered in his name.