A 20-year-old postgraduate college student was allegedly abducted and raped by three unidentified men near Coimbatore International Airport late Sunday night, after her boyfriend was attacked and left bleeding at the spot. The crime took place in an isolated, unlit stretch near the airport, where no CCTV cameras are installed.
According to the police, the survivor had left her hostel around 4.30 pm on Sunday with her boyfriend (23). The duo, who had allegedly been in a relationship for five years, had dinner outside before driving to the area where the incident took place.
Around 11 pm, three unknown men approached the parked car, allegedly after arriving on a stolen two-wheeler. They hurled a stone at the windshield, shattering it, and dragged the man out of the vehicle. The assailants threatened him at knifepoint and assaulted him when he attempted to resist. Police said he was beaten with a stick and stones on his head, and later received 28 stitches for six severe injuries.
The men then forcibly took the woman away from the scene. She was allegedly confined in a motor room-like shed – around a kilometre from the airport – and raped. The gang reportedly threatened her not to reveal the crime to anyone before abandoning her around 4.30 am on Monday.
The man, who had briefly lost consciousness at the scene, woke up around 11.25 pm, managed to drive the damaged car towards the airport road, and sought help from passersby. People informed the police, and he was rushed to the hospital for treatment. As multiple police teams began a search in the area, the survivor was allowed to go, and she reached a nearby residential locality and managed to inform the police over the phone. She was soon shifted to a private hospital, while her boyfriend was admitted to a medical college.
Senior officials, including top-level crime and city police officers, inspected the crime scene shortly after midnight. Seven special teams have been formed to trace the suspects, police said. A senior officer told The Indian Express that low lighting and the absence of surveillance cameras in the area have made the probe more complex, as the location is a largely deserted stretch near the airport with little movement at night. “We are analysing all possible angles, available technical inputs and all recorded movements from the area,” the officer said.
Police believe that the suspects stole the motorcycle used in the incident from Kovilpalayam earlier in the evening and rode it towards the airport corridor before spotting the couple inside the car.
