Five people, including a woman, have been arrested in connection with the alleged abduction and gang rape of a woman from Nilambur, in Thrissur on September 22.
The arrested have been identified as Devi, 27, of Tiruppur; Thomas Priyadarshan Deva, 27, of the Nilgiris; Raghupathi Raj, 20, of Dindigul; Shankar, 20, of Viranapettai in Karur; and Balraj, 31, of Kadavur, according to the Thrissur City police.
The arrests were made by a special investigation team (SIT) led by Assistant Commissioner T.R. Rajesh under the direction of Thrissur City Police Commissioner Nakul R. Deshmukh.
According to the police, the woman and her male companion from Tamil Nadu had taken a room at a lodge in Thrissur. Devi, who is reportedly the wife of the man, allegedly objected to his relationship with the woman and, on learning that the two were staying at the lodge, sought the help of Thomas.
The police said a six-member group reached the lodge in two cars. Thomas allegedly misled the lodge staff by claiming that he was a police officer and that two persons involved in a ganja case had to be taken into custody.
The group allegedly entered the room, assaulted the man and the woman and forcibly took them away in cars. They were later taken to an unoccupied house in Tiruppur, where they were allegedly assaulted again.
The police said the two were subsequently separated and taken in different cars. The woman was allegedly taken to an isolated location, where two of the accused, Thomas and Raghupathi, allegedly sexually assaulted her.
After the alleged assault, the woman was taken to a hospital after she became unwell. She later managed to escape from the hospital premises, the police said.
A special team was formed following the directions of the City Police Commissioner. Thomas was arrested from the Nedumbassery airport area, while the other accused were arrested from locations including Tiruppur, Coimbatore and Palani, the police said.
