Published Oct 05, 2026 | 12:56 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 05, 2026 | 12:56 PM
The arrested persons have been identified as Sreeraj and Jith Martin. (Supplied)
Synopsis: The alleged assault took place on 2 October. According to police, four people are suspected to have been involved in the incident, including a woman. The accused allegedly gave the survivor alcohol and drugs before sexually assaulting her.
A woman was allegedly drugged and gang-raped after being lured to Kalamassery in Kochi on the promise of a job as a spa manager, police sources told South First on Monday, 5 October.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the case, while investigators are looking for the other accused.
The alleged assault took place on 2 October. According to police, four people are suspected to have been involved in the incident, including a woman. The accused allegedly gave the survivor alcohol and drugs before sexually assaulting her.
The assault was also allegedly recorded on a mobile phone.
The survivor later informed her husband about the incident and approached the police, following which the Kalamassery police registered a case.
She is currently undergoing treatment in the ICU of a private hospital in Kochi.
Also Read: Spa employee held at knifepoint, gang-raped for refusing to pay “protection money” in Kerala
The arrested persons have been identified as Sreeraj (30), of SR Nivas, Erikkavu, Karthikappally in Alappuzha and Jith Martin (27), of Kuthiraparambil, Thrikkakara, Kochi.
The two were arrested by a team led by Kalamassery Inspector A.L. Abhilash, along with Sub-Inspectors Ram Lal and V.S. Binu and civil police officers Libin Kumar, Sijil Suresh and Aneesh.
They were produced before the magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody.
Thrikkakara Assistant Commissioner C.K. Bijoy Chandran said more arrests are expected as the investigation progresses.
Police sources told South First that the accused are allegedly part of a group involved in supplying women to customers through spas. Sreeraj is also reported to run a spa in Edappally.
Investigators are now examining the circumstances in which the woman was brought to the spa and the alleged role of each person involved. Police are also attempting to recover and verify the alleged recordings of the assault and establish the complete sequence of events.
The Kalamassery case comes amid previous instances in Keralam where spas have figured in serious criminal investigations.
In an earlier case in Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta district, a woman working at an Ayurvedic spa was allegedly gang-raped by a group of men after the establishment’s owner refused to pay an extortion demand.
According to the case details, the gang allegedly entered the spa in the afternoon, forced the woman into a room and assaulted her at knifepoint. The attackers allegedly recorded the assault on a mobile phone.
Investigators had also examined allegations that the suspects had repeatedly demanded ₹50,000 from the establishment as protection money. The probe reportedly looked into whether the assault was connected to the extortion attempt and whether it had been carried out as part of a planned attack.
The Kerala Police subsequently formed a Special Investigation Team led by the Thiruvalla Deputy Superintendent of Police under Pathanamthitta SP R. Anand. Several arrests were made in the case, including those of alleged prime accused Subin Alexander Chacko, also known as Marana Subin, and Berlin Das.
In the Kalamassery case, police said the investigation is continuing and further arrests are expected.
Officers are also examining the alleged network operating around spas and the circumstances under which women were being recruited or brought into such establishments.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
