A woman who was seen in a sexual assault video that went viral on social media has been brought to Bengaluru from Kozhikode, in Kerala, by the Bengaluru police who are probing the rape video case.
The woman was subjected to sexual assault in the video and had taken shelter at a friend’s home in Kozhikode.
The police, who traced her location, brought her to Bengaluru and have recorded her statement in connection with the case. The case came to light after Assam police flagged the sexual assault video on social media, after it went viral and said that they were looking for the culprits seen in the video. It is believed that the survivor and the five arrested accused are all Bangladeshis.
The police said that the accused were part of a cross-border human trafficking network and that the survivor was brought to India for trafficking.
According to a report by the Deccan Herald, the woman, aged 22 years, was brought to Bengaluru on Friday, 28 May, night and was taken to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital for a medical examination. After the tests, the statement of the woman was recorded by NB Sakri, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Banaswadi subdivision, and a policewoman.
A report by The Hindu stated that the statement by the woman corroborates the information they had gathered from the accused during questioning. The accused allegedly ran a forced sex work trade, spanning multiple states. The Hindu report further stated that all the accused are from Bangladesh and that the police were investigating how they were renting houses for their business in the city.
The Deccan Herald report also states that it is believed that the woman was trafficked by the prime suspect, Mohammed Babu Shaikh, aged 30, three months ago. The report added that the woman had lost her parents and had worked in Dubai and Mumbai before she came to Bengaluru.
A senior police officer told the Deccan Herald that a financial dispute had developed between the woman and Shaikh, following which she moved to Kozhikode. Shaikh had convinced the woman to come back and when she did, Shaikh and three other men brutally stripped and gang-raped her at the rented house in Kanakanagar in east Bengaluru on 19 May and 20 May. They filmed the brutal act on their phone. This video later went viral in Bangladesh and northeast India, after which Assam police issued a lookout notice.
The report further stated that the other accused were Ridoy Babo (25), Rakibul Islam Sagar (23), and Hakil (23). Two women, Nasrath and Kajal, who were present during the incident were also arrested and have been sent to police custody till 10 June.
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