Seven persons were arrested by the Kallambalam police on Monday on charges of raping a Dalit minor girl over the course of nearly two months.
Those arrested were identified as Anoop Shah, 24, and Saheed, 21, of Ayiroor; Shamnad, 21, of Edava; Salman, 19, of Varkala; Shahnas, 19, Soorat, 32, and Al Ameen, 23, of Chemmaruthy. The police are on the lookout for one Ameer of Navaikulam, an autorickshaw driver, who is the prime accused in the case.
The police said that the victim was contacted by the second accused, Anoop Shah, who asked her to come to the Kallambalam junction on the pretext that a relative of her was in a highly intoxicated state and required her assistance to return home. The girl had been in contact with Ameer and Anoop, who used to arrange dance programmes for her and ferry her to the venues.
After arriving at the spot, she was forcibly taken in Ameer’s vehicle to a deserted area in Velloorkonam, where she was raped, the police said. The act was filmed in a mobile phone, which was used to blackmail the victim. For the next several days, she was offered to the other accused and was forced to cooperate, failing which the first two accused threatened to publicise the video clip. The victim was found to have been subjected to torture at the house of the prime accused in Navaikulam. She was also forced to consume liquor and marijuana by the accused, the police said.
On March 30, she was taken to a place within the Parippally police station limits and offered to two persons, from whom payment was accepted by the first two accused. However, as the victim resisted their attempts to hand her over, she was assaulted, following which some passersby attempted to intervene. Fearing that they would be exposed, the accused abandoned the victim and fled.
The case was transferred to the Kallambalam police station and the subsequent probe resulted in the arrests of the seven accused, with one more left to be brought to book. Those arrested were produced before Attingal Judicial First Class Magistrate Suresh Vandoor and have been remanded.
Police are on the lookout for Ameer, an autorickshaw driver, who is the prime accused
