Nine held for sexual assault on woman, son

BENGALURU: The Chandra Layout police have arrested nine persons, including two women, for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 40-year-old woman, along with her son. The accused kept the duo under wrongful confinement for four days, planning to extort money from them, which they supposedly got after disposing of stolen property.

The accused have been identified as rowdy sheeters Joseph and Srinivas alias Pagal Seena; Prathap, who runs an eatery and a finance business; his wife, Soumya; Jathin; Swathi; Madesha; Syed Shahbuddin, an auto driver; and Vignesh. Shahbuddin and Vignesh have assault cases against them.

The police said the victim and her 20-year-old son were supposedly involved in disposing of stolen mobile phones and a gold chain, while the son’s friends had stolen the mobiles and the chain. The accused received information that they have got Rs 2 lakh by disposing of stolen valuables, and hence, planned to extort them.

Accordingly, they kidnapped the mother and son and kept them in Prathap’s house in Kengeri, between August 13 and 16, where the woman was sexually harassed and assaulted, while her son was also attacked. After realising that they didn’t have the money, they released them.