The police in Bengaluru on Thursday arrested five people for allegedly raping and torturing a woman, the Hindustan Times reported. The gang had recorded the incident and shared the clip with their friends in Assam.
As the video was widely circulated, the Assam Police shared images of the accused on Twitter seeking information. Union minister Kiren Rijiju also urged citizens to help in the case.
The accused – four men and a woman – were arrested from a rented house in Ramamurthy Nagar, according to The Hindu. Another woman involved in the case is currently absconding.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said a case of rape and sexual assault has been filed against the six accused. The survivor and the accused are all part of the same group and believed to be from Bangladesh, Pant added.
The woman, who is reportedly 22 years old, was brought to India for human trafficking. The commissioner said she was tortured due to a “financial matter”.
The police have deputed teams to trace the survivor, who is currently in another state.
“Our initial probe has revealed that the gang brought her illegally into the country by promising her a job,” a senior officer told The Hindu. “Instead, they forced her into prostitution. She was able to escape but they hunted her down. When they found her, they tortured her brutally and violated her before circulating the video.”
The police said that around 5 am on Friday those arrested were taken to the location of the crime to reconstruct the scene but two of them tried to flee and were shot at, reported NDTV. DCP (Bengaluru East) Sharanappa SD said the injured are in the hospital.
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