Hotelier held after woman jumps from first floor to escape his sexual assault attempt

Kozhikode (Kerala): A hotelier, who had been absconding after a woman employee jumped down from the first floor of a building here while resisting his alleged sexual assault attempt, was held from Thrissur district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Devadas, was nabbed by the Mukkam police from Kunnamkulam during a bus journey on Tuesday night.

A source said the investigators received a tip-off about his movements, and a team of police personnel followed him and held him after stopping the bus midway.

He was brought to Mukkam police station in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to police, Devadas, who runs a moderate hotel in the district, was accused of barging into the room of a woman employee at her rented house here on Saturday night.

His accomplices, Riyas and Suresh, who were also with him at the time of the alleged sexual assault attempt, remain at large, and a manhunt is underway to apprehend them, the police said.

The shocking incident came to light after the woman, who sustained serious injuries from jumping from the first floor of the building to escape the assault, shared her harrowing experience with the police.

Hailing from Payyannur in Kannur, the victim had joined the hotel owned by Devadas a few months ago.

She gave the statement that the trio barged into her room when she was watching a video game on her phone, and she had no other way but to jump down the building to escape the assault.

After hearing her cries, neighbours and local people rushed to the spot and soon shifted her to a nearby hospital.

Devadas was arrested a day after the victim's family released some mobile visuals purportedly showing the trio's assault bid and the woman's attempt to escape from them.

The family said on Tuesday that the visuals got recorded accidentally in the victim's phone as her camera was automatically on because she was watching the video game.

Police said the accused were booked under various sections of the BNS. The arrest of the hotel owner would be recorded soon, they said, adding that the victim is currently undergoing treatment at a medical college hospital here. She suffered fractures in her hip and hand, and her condition is stable as of now, sources added.