Spa employee gang-raped by 6 after owner refuses to pay extortion money in Kerala; 2 held

PATHANAMTHITTA: An employee of a spa in Thiruvalla was allegedly gang-raped by a Kaapa case accused and five of his accomplices after the owner of the establishment refused to pay extortion money, police said.

Two of the accused — prime accused Subin Alexander alias Marana Subin (29) of Kuttapuzha Pappiniveli and Berlin Das (38) of Muppiri — were arrested and remanded in custody, while the others remain at large. The incident occurred around 3.30pm on Feb 1, police said.


According to the first information report, Subin and his associates had visited the spa for several days demanding money.

On the day of the incident,they demanded Rs 50,000, and when the spa owner, a native of Thrissur, refused to pay, they took the woman employee to an adjacent room, pushed her onto a spa bed, and raped her after threatening her with a knife.

Subin was a habitual offender
The accused filmed the act, took selfies and assaulted the woman. Another person who came to the spa was also assaulted and made to lie next to the woman, while Subin filmed the act. They also took Rs 2,500 from the spa, the FIR said.

Subin was a habitual offender, with 11 cases registered against him, including those for attempted murder, theft, assault and destruction of public property, at Thiruvalla police station. He was earlier detained under the Kaapa (Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention) Act, but was recently released on bail.

After the spa incident, when police tried to arrest him, Subin unleashed a dog on them, injuring SI Unnikrishnan and CPO Abhilash, who required medical treatment. Berlin Das was accused in an assault case.

The victim, who initially refused to file a complaint, gave her statement to police on Tuesday, following which the two accused were arrested. Subin was arrested on Tuesday itself, while Berlin Das was arrested on Wednesday. It is alleged that there were attempts to settle the matter and prevent the victim from giving a statement. The incident came to light after CCTV footage of the suspects at the spa was leaked.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)