Five people, including a woman, were arrested on Sunday, 12 November, for allegedly gang-raping a 25-year-old woman working at a homestay in Agra, police officials said.
According to the police, the incident took place at a homestay on the night of Saturday, 11 November. Action was taken after a purported video of the survivor crying for help surfaced on social media.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 376 (rape), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences), and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused were identified as Jeetendra Rathore, alias Jitu, Ravi Rathore (owner of the homestay), Manish Kumar, Dev Kishore, and Riya, the police said, adding that all the accused are residents of Agra.
In the FIR, the survivor said that she had been working at the homestay for the past 18 months for a salary of Rs 10,000.
On Saturday, the survivor alleged that the accused lured her to the homestay to celebrate Diwali.
"On the night of Diwali, I was called to buy sweets. When I reached there, Jitu, Manish, Ravi, Ashok, Riya, and two customers were present there. All five of them forced me to have sex with two of them. When I ran away from there, they caught me. They made me drink alcohol, took off my clothes, tried to rape me and when I protested. They hit me on the head with a glass bottle. Then I began to scream for help and a few people came to my rescue."
The woman, in her complaint, alleged that Ravi Rathore, the owner of the homestay, and her colleagues forced her into sex work.
In the FIR, she said that the accused had been harassing her for the past 1.5 years and had made an objectionable video of her earlier with which they were allegedly blackmainling her.
"My video was also made and a threat was made to make it viral. I had to pay them Rs 4.5 lakh for this," she alleged.
"Four men and a woman have been arrested after the incident. The medical examination of the victim will be done and legal action is being taken in the case," Archana Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Sadar Circle, said. "The accused include those involved in running the homestay."
The homestay which is a rented property has been sealed, police officials said.
