The Thiruvananthapuram Rural police on Sunday recorded the seventh arrest in the gang-rape case of a woman in Kadinamkulam, thereby nabbing all of the accused in the incident that sparked mass outrage after it came to light that the victim’s husband played a major role in the crime that took place in the presence of the couple’s son.
Noufal Shah, 27, of Pallipuram was arrested by the Kadinamkulam police and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. Absconding since the incident that took place on June 4, Noufal was nabbed from a house at Channankara.
He is accused of having played a major role in abducting the woman in his autorickshaw and exploiting her.
The investigation team had earlier arrested six people, including the victim’s husband. According to District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram Rural) B. Asokan, the investigation team continues to probe whether the crime was pre-meditated.
The possibility currently hinges on two findings, one being that Rajan was known to the victim’s husband and secondly, the victim is claimed to have seen her husband receiving money from the former during one of their earlier visits to his house at Vettuthura.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday sought an action-taken report from the Kerala Police on the case.
The NCW has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and expressed concern about the grave violation of safety and security of women in the State, which it said, “cannot be overlooked and needs to be addressed immediately.”
(With inputs from PTI)
