THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Confirming that the Kadinamkulam gangrape victim was assaulted brutally, the medical report of the 24-year-old woman has revealed nail and bite marks on her body. The Kadinamkulam police have also sent her dress worn during the incident for forensic examination.
The victim’s five-year-old son has been made a key witness in the case and his detailed statement recorded. The woman and her two children have been shifted to a Child Welfare Committee centre. The accused — Mansoor, 40, Akbarsha, 20, Ansad, 33, Manoj, 24, and Rajan Selestian, 62, along with her husband — were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days after the completion of their medical examination. Following the Covid-19 protocol, the remand proceedings were completed through webcasting. However, another accused, Noufal, remains at large.
Kadinamkulam Sub Inspector PV Vinesh Kumar said efforts are on to trace Noufal.
“The accused have confessed to the crime and all of them were charged under sections 376 D (punishment for gangrape), 366 (kidnap), 394 (causing hurt for robbery). They were also charged under the Pocso act for abusing the victim in front of her child. Though her husband was not directly involved in the crime, he was also charged for the rape as he had taken her to the beach house. The scientific evidence also proves that all the accused are guilty,” the officer said.
The incident happened on Thursday night when the woman and her sons — a five-year-old and the other 18-month-old — were brought by her husband to his friend’s house near Puthukurichi beach. The family visited Selestian’s house in the evening, where five others were present.
After her husband went outside, the others told her he got injured in a scuffle. The accused took the victim and her younger child in an autorickshaw to a secluded place and raped her after forcefully feeding her alcohol. The accused also snatched a mobile phone and Rs 1,000 from her. She managed to run with her child and sought the help of two youngsters passing by. They took her home and informed the police.