Husband, friends gang-rape woman in son's presence in Kerala; Arrested

A woman, aged around 25, was allegedly attacked and gang raped by her husband and four of his friends in front of her son after forcefully giving liquor at Kadinamkulam, about 20 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram city on Thursday evening.

The police arrested the husband and four of her friends, while a search for couple of other persons suspected to be involved in the crime was going on. The victim also alleged that her husband took money from the others accused.

According to the victim, her husband took her and their two children to a friend's house on the coastal areas on Thursday evening on the pretext of enjoying beach. She was then forced to have liquor. Later four of the friends forcefully took her to a nearby bushy area where she was sexually abused wit the connivance of her husband. Her elder son, aged around five, was also beaten up.

She fainted and later recovered on hearing her son crying. Their younger child was with the husband. Afterwards she managed to reach her house with the help of two youths who passed by. Her husband later reached house and threatened her against reporting the matter to police. But she did not concede.

The woman was hospitlised by night for medical examination. Her husband and four others accused were nabbed by night itself. The husband, who is a daily wage worker, was also suspected to be a drug addict, said police sources.