Two Kerala men arrested for allegedly raping foreign national in Kochi

The woman had come to Kerala earlier the same day and was residing at a hotel in MG Road, where the two accused were also staying.

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A foreign national who is visiting Kerala was sexually assaulted by two men at a hotel in Kochi. Following the complaint by the woman, Kochi Central Police arrested the two men on Thursday.

The incident happened on Wednesday night. The woman had come to Kerala earlier the same day and was residing at a hotel in MG Road. The two accused – Muhammad Insaf and Ansurudheen, natives of Kondotty in Malappuram district – were also staying at the same hotel.

According to the police, the woman was sexually assaulted in the hotel room where Muhammad Insa and Ansurudheen were staying. As per some reports, the woman already knew one of the two men. Police told TNM that they could not reveal specific details, but said that the woman had come to Kochi for personal reasons.

“The two have been charged with Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code. Both will be remanded after being presented in court. The woman is under the protection of police at present,” Ernakulam ACP K Lalji told TNM. He also added that the embassy of the woman’s country has given directions not to specify the country’s name.

This is not the first time that a foreigner has been sexually assaulted in Kerala. In a gruesome incident in 2018, a Latvian tourist was raped and murdered at Kovalam in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. A month after she went missing, her decomposed and headless body was found at a mangrove forest near Kovalam.

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