The Bangladeshi woman allegedly gang-raped by four of her compatriots about 10 days ago has been brought back to Bengaluru from Kerala where she had taken shelter at a friend’s place.
The 22-year-old was escorted into the city late on Friday night and subjected to medical tests, including one for Covid-19, at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital. Thereafter, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banaswadi subdivision) N B Sakri and a policewoman took her statement about the incident.
The woman is believed to have been trafficked by the prime suspect, Mohammed Babu Shaikh, 30, three months ago. She had lost her parents, and worked in Dubai and Mumbai before coming to Bengaluru.
According to a senior police officer, the woman had developed a financial dispute with Shaikh, and moved to Kozhikode. But Shaikh convinced her to come back. When she did, he and three others brutally assaulted, stripped and gang-raped her on May 19 and 20 at their rented house in Kanakanagar, Ramamurthy Nagar, East Bengaluru. They also filmed the act on a mobile phone. The video — three minutes and 45 seconds — went viral in Northeast India and Bangladesh.
A male friend took her back to Kozhikode.
Sources said Bengaluru police had come across the video but didn’t know that the crime had happened in the city. The tip finally came from the Bangladeshi police, and a manhunt was launched.
Within a few hours, informants helped the police trace the gang’s house. A police team by the Whitefield ACP raided the house and arrested the suspects. The gang was later handed over to Ramamurthy Nagar police since the area falls under their jurisdiction, the sources said.
Besides Shaikh, the other three suspects are Ridoy Babo, 25, Rakibul Islam Sagar, 23, and Hakil, 23. Two women, Nasrath and Kajal, were also arrested. All the six are in police custody until June 10.
Police believe the gang had been running a prostitution racket in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kerala, by trafficking undocumented Bangladeshi women.
In addition to the gang rape, police will question the gang about the prostitution and trafficking, said a police officer who’s part of the investigation. The woman's friend who took her to Kozhikode will also be questioned.
On Friday, Babo and Sagar were allegedly wounded in police shooting when they tried to escape. Both are recovering in hospital.
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