KOCHI: With more women revealing the alleged sexual assault they suffered at the hands of tattoo artist Sujeesh PS, the police have said the accused used his “celebrity” clout to ensure that the victims remained silent. The police have so far registered six cases against Sujeesh, 35, for rape and sexual assault. He had even gone to the extent of offering free tattoos and heavy discounts to the victims who he had hassled, the police said. The alleged incidents took place between 2018 and 2022.
In one of the complaints, a 24-year-old survivor said she faced the assault on August 12, 2018, at his tattoo studio “Inkfected” in Palarivattom. She said she left his studio deeply uncomfortable, violated and confused as he was a celebrity tattooist and as she had never heard about such an act committed by him earlier. “I shared my bitter experience with my close friends, but I did not report it at the time as I was afraid of what society and people around me would say. But now that an 18-year-old has spoken up, I decided to lodge a complaint as I don’t want this to happen to more people,” she added.
Another survivor alleged that when the accused touched her body in the guise of tattooing, she thought it was part of the process. “Though I was uncomfortable, I remained quiet because I thought it was part of the tattooing process,” she said in her complaint.
A 28-year-old survivor complained that she had to undergo the harrowing experience of sexual abuse even while she was enduring the severe pain of tattooing. “My whole body was numb from the pain of tattooing. After the tattoo was done, he even gave me a discount. I was disgusted at this point, and unable to bear the pain, shame and trauma he had given me. I left the building immediately with my friend in tears,” she said in her complaint.
The police said Sujeesh outraged the modesty of women by words and gestures, and committed sexual acts under the guise of the tattooing process. “He misused his profession to sexually harass me,” complained a 30-year-old.