Was locked up, raped for a month: Woman

KOCHI: A 24-year-old woman says she was held against her will in a flat in Kochi, Kerala, and tortured and sexually assaulted for almost a month earlier this year by a man with whom she was in a live-in relationship. She says she managed to escape on March 8, and summoned up the courage to lodge a complaint with the police on April 8, but that no action was taken against the man.

The issue came to light after one of the woman’s friends released photographs showing scars and burn marks on her body. Police said the accused, a businessman, has been absconding since the woman filed the complaint and later moved the high court for anticipatory bail.

The court on Tuesday directed the police to file details of the case by Friday and prompted them to constitute a special investigation team.

Kochi police commissioner C Nagaraju said all efforts were on to apprehend the man, identified as Joseph Martin Pulikottil.

In her complaint, the woman said she was confined to the flat for 22 days and tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to drink urine. The woman said she escaped from the flat when he went out to fetch food. She said she dreaded filing a police complaint as the accused shot photos and videos of her on several occasions.

The state women’s rights panel has taken up the case and directed the police to investigate the matter. It has also asked the police to provide the woman protection. The woman has also complained that she was under pressure to withdraw the complaint.