In an incident that triggered mass outrage, five men have been arrested for the alleged gang-rape of the wife of one of the accused in the presence of the couple’s son in Kadinamkulam on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram late on Thursday. The Thiruvananthapuram rural police have intensified the probe to ascertain the possibility of the case being linked to a sex trade racket.
Besides the victim’s husband, four others, identified as Rajan, Mansoor, Akbar and Arshad, all from the same locality, were arrested by the police.
According to the police, the victim’s husband took her and their two sons from his house in Pothencode to Puthukurichy beach around 4 p.m. on Thursday. He later took them to Rajan’s house nearby, where they force-fed the victim with liquor.
“As if on cue, the husband left the house with the younger son and the others. After some time, some of them returned and began to misbehave with the victim. Sensing something amiss, the woman tried to leave the house with her elder son. However, they were prevented from doing so by the gang, which misled her into believing that her husband was involved in a scuffle nearby,” a police officer said.
The gang took the victim and her son to a deserted location in Channankara, where the woman was allegedly sexually assaulted. They also manhandled the five-year old child.
The victim, however, managed to escape the gang’s clutches after she offered to return to the place after dropping her child home. The duo was rescued by a group of youth who safely transported her to her house near Kaniyapuram.
Learning of her ordeal, the group also alerted the police, following which the victim was taken to the Chirayinkeezhu taluk hospital. Despite her husband purportedly attempting to dissuade her from pressing charges, the victim decided to proceed with the case. Her statement was recorded by a magistrate on Friday, following which the arrests were recorded.
Pointing out that the accused had been booked on various charges, including rape and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram Rural) B. Asokan said the investigating team was pursuing the possibility of the incident being premeditated.
With the victim claiming that her husband received money from Rajan during their visit to the same house the previous day, the police are also investigating the possibility of sex trade. While those arrested will be produced at a court on Friday, efforts were on to apprehend one more person in connection with the case.
