Bengal news: Woman held captive for months, brutally assaulted by mother-son duo for refusing to act in porn film

Mint

4 hours ago

A shocking incident came to light in the Howrah district of West Bengal where a 23-year-old woman was allegedly forcibly detained for months and brutally tortured by a man and his mother.
The victim, a resident of Sodepur in North 24 Parganas district, had come in contact with the man from Howrah's Domjur area through Facebook five months back.
He had promised her a job if she came to his residence.
As she visited his Domjur residence to discuss the job, the man, along with his mother, allegedly assaulted her after failing to lure her into the profession of a bar dancer and forced her to do domestic chores, according to a police complaint filed by the woman's parents at Khardah police station.
It is also alleged that they also forced her to act in a pornographic film.
A few days ago, the woman managed to escape from the flat, where she was held captive, and returned home with bruises all over her body.
The victim was admitted to Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital in Kamarhati.
Following the FIR, the Khardah police forwarded the FIR to their Domjur counterparts.
A team of police personnel visited the apartment of the accused. But both mother and son were found to have fled from there.
A manhunt has been launched to nab them and further investigation is underway.
Based on initial findings, the accused mother-son duo has likely fled abroad, possibly to Thailand, said the police.
A senior police officer claimed that the woman had made multiple cash withdrawals from her bank account, which authorities believe may have been used to finance their escape plan, according to news agency PTI.
"The accused woman had visited the bank several times and withdrew money. It seems the funds were used to facilitate their plan to abscond. We suspect the woman and her son have escaped to Bangkok," the officer said.
The accused woman, along with her son, was running a film production house where "soft pornographic reels" were made, said the PTI report citing police sources.
Investigators are also probing allegations that they were running a sex racket from the same premises.
The victim has also claimed that her mobile phone was taken away by the accused.