CHENNAI: The Chennai city police on Wednesday arrested six men for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 40-year-old woman at knife point in an abandoned area near the Chennai Bypass Road. The incident, which happened on Saturday, came to light after the woman lodged a complaint at an all women police station attached to the Avadi city police on Tuesday.
According to the police, the victim was returning home after attending a temple festival on Saturday when the incident happened. A senior police officer said, “She sent her children along with her husband and took a cab home. The driver was her family friend. When the vehicle entered an arterial road off the Tambaram-Maduravoyal bypass, a man waylaid it.” Five others joined the man and attacked the cab driver.
The gang then drove the car to a distance, threw the driver out, and threatened to murder the woman if she screamed for help, the officer said, and added: “They took her to a secluded spot nearby and snatched 13 sovereigns of gold from her. The men then took turns and raped the woman.”
13 sovereigns of gold seized from rape suspects
The injured driver managed to alert a police patrol team, which then reached the location. While the police nabbed one of the accused who was still, others fled. The accused, who were initially booked for robbery, were arrested under IPC sections pertaining to gang rape, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, kidnap and other sections along with sections of the Woman Harassment Act after the victim lodged complaint on Tuesday.
Police said all the accused were under influence of alcohol and ganja. The woman is being treated at a private hospital and given counselling. The accused were identified as Surya (21), Karuppiah (28), Dinesh (29), Suresh (19) and Santhosh (22), Sathish (24), all from Iyyappanthangal. Police also seized 13 sovereign gold from them.