Three women arrested in Kochi over alleged trafficking and assault case

Police in Kochi arrested three women for allegedly running a sex racket under the guise of overseas modelling and job offers. Victims claimed they were drugged, sexually assaulted abroad, blackmailed with videos, and threatened against approaching authorities

Kochi: Three women have been arrested here in connection with an alleged sex racket being run under the guise of offering women modelling opportunities abroad, police said on Tuesday. Two women were arrested on Monday, and another had been apprehended a few days ago following complaints by the affected persons, they added. The complainants have alleged that they were taken abroad on the pretext of modelling assignments or other jobs and then were drugged and raped there, police said.

Giving details of the case, Kochi City Police Commissioner S Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar said that initially a young woman filed a complaint claiming that she met the accused at a common place and then was taken abroad to work in a beauty salon.

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On reaching the foreign country, she was sexually assaulted and exploited, it was video recorded, she was forced to agree to such acts again and her passport was taken away, he said. She was very badly harassed and exploited by the people involved in the racket, the officer told reporters here.

A case was registered and a team was formed to investigate it, the officer said, adding that there are five accused in the matter. Then another victim came forward with similar allegations with the difference being that she was offered a modelling assignment abroad, Kumar said.

According to the women, they were regularly drugged and then sexually assaulted by different persons while they were unconscious, police said. The first accused then tried to flee abroad, but since there was a look out circular for her, she was nabbed from Mumbai airport, the officer said.

Currently, three accused are in our custody and a detailed investigation is being carried out by an SIT. “There is a possibility of more complaints as according to the two victims, there are more women who have been exploited in this manner,” the officer said.

He also said that the threats were made to the victims on their phones to not pursue any police complaint. There was also possibility of involvement of goonda elements in the matter, he added. The goonda elements in the city have been identified and are under surveillance, he said.