Three held after woman alleges abduction, assault over debt in Bengaluru

The Bengaluru police have arrested three people, including two women, after a 30-year-old woman alleged that she was forcibly taken to a house, assaulted, and held captive for two days by the accused over an alleged debt.

She was rescued by the Chandra Layout police after a credible tip-off. The accused also allegedly stripped her and recorded a video, according to the FIR. However, the police are verifying the claims. The accused have been identified as Nazrath Begum, Reshma Banu, and Suhail.

According to the FIR, the victim had borrowed ₹50,000 from Nazrath on a weekly-interest arrangement and had also borrowed ₹1 lakh from Reshma about two years ago. She said that she had been paying ₹5,000 every week to Nazrath, but had been unable to make payments for about two weeks.

For the ₹1 lakh loan from Reshma, she had not paid interest for six months. The woman alleged that Reshma had been repeatedly demanding money and threatening her. She claimed that she eventually moved to her mother’s house fearing harassment and later stayed at another friend’s house.

On August 27, the complainant said Nazrath called her to the latter’s house offering to pay her some money. After she arrived with her son, Reshma, her husband Suhail, and two other men allegedly entered the house and locked the door.

The complainant told the police that Suhail demanded the money back and allegedly assaulted her. The woman further alleged that she and her son were forcibly taken in an autorickshaw to Reshma’s house in Kumbalgodu, where she was allegedly assaulted with a stick and was subsequently kept confined in a room.

The assault continued the next day as well. The victim also alleged that Nazrath stripped her and recorded a video on the latter’s mobile phone, threatening to circulate it if she failed to repay the money. The woman said she was later taken to a lawyer near a market and made to sign some papers before being brought back to Reshma’s house.

On August 31, she managed to get out of the room when she was allowed to use the toilet. Police personnel arrived at the house shortly afterwards and rescued her. She was taken to the Chandra Layout police station, where she narrated the alleged incidents.

Based on the complaint, the Chandra Layout police registered an FIR against under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. An investigator in the case said that the accused and the victim are all friends and a financial dispute is involved.

“We are verifying all the claims made by the complainant,” the officer told The Hindu.