Indian police arrest five over ‘month-long imprisonment and rape’ of tourist

Five men have been arrested over the alleged gang-rape and extortion of a Japanese tourist held as a sex slave for nearly a month in a basement near a famous Buddhist shrine in India, officials said Sunday. The 22-year-old’s ordeal began in Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, where she was befriended by three local men shortly after arriving on November 20, one of the city’s top police officers said. The men, one of whom spoke Japanese, first managed to persuade her to withdraw around $1,200 USD in cash before travelling with her to the holy shrine of Bodh Gaya in the neighbouring state of Bihar. There she was then handed over to two brothers who allegedly locked her in a basement and repeatedly raped her for nearly a month.

We have arrested three people who befriended the victim in Kolkata. They have been charged with common conspiracy and intention to kidnap and rape.

Kolkata joint police commissioner Pallab Kanti Ghosh

The woman managed to escape from Gaya and reached the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where she met some Japanese tourists who helped her contact the consulate in Kolkata. The two brothers, who were working as tourist guides, were arrested on Friday and taken to Kolkata where they appeared in court late Saturday. A magistrate ordered that they be remanded in custody until January 9 for an identification parade. Kolkata joint police commissioner Pallab Kanti Ghosh said the other three men were being held on suspicion of extorting money from the victim and then handing her over to the alleged rapists.

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