Gang filmed Kolkata woman during rape; Bengaluru police nab 3, kingpin at large

Bengaluru: Police have arrested three men over the gang rape of a Kolkata woman in northwest Bengaluru on October 21. 

Three more suspects, including the alleged kingpin, are absconding, police said on Thursday. 

The 27-year-old woman, a bridal makeup artist, was in her rented house in Gangondanahalli, off Tumakuru Road, when six men barged in around 10 pm. 

Earlier that evening, around 7 pm, her elder son had received a text message warning of a "raid" at their house at midnight and advising them to stay alert. 

The six men arrived on motorbikes, posing as informants from the Peenya police station. 

Speaking in a mix of Kannada and Hindi, they accused the family of running a prostitution racket and supplying ganja, and demanded Rs 1 lakh in cash and some ganja as a bribe. 

One of the men claimed he had served three months in the Bengaluru Central Prison and had recently been released. 

When the family refused to comply, the gang attacked the woman, her two male relatives and her female roommate with cricket bats, sparing her two minor children. 

The female roommate managed to escape but two of the men tied up the two male family members in a washroom, dragged the survivor into another room on the first floor and sexually assaulted her. 

One suspect stood at the house entrance while three waited on motorbikes, keeping watch. 

"The two men even filmed the rape before robbing cash, mobile phones and other valuables," a senior police officer investigating the case told DH. 

The survivor’s elder son alerted the police control room (112), following which a team from the Madanayakanahalli police station rushed to the scene and began investigations. 

Three special police teams nabbed three suspects on Wednesday night by tracing the man who had sent the text message to the survivor's son. 

Police apprehended two more suspects later and are hunting for three more, including the alleged kingpin. 

Police have recorded the survivor's statement and confiscated the video footage of the incident recorded by the suspects. 

"Two suspects are habitual offenders. We are gathering more details about the other four who had helped the main guys escape. We suspect that the survivor had met them earlier as she identified the men while making statement before the investigation officer," the officer told DH. 

Police have registered a case under BNS sections related to gang rape, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons, robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt, mischief and unlawful assembly.