The authorities saved a 20-year-old Indian student who had been held captive for several months in the Missouri region of the United States. He had been brutally abused, denied necessities like toilets and made to work at three different residences by his cousin and two men of Indian origin. The victim, who travelled to Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla last year from India to pursue his studies, is presently receiving medical attention at a hospital for several bone fractures, cuts and injuries all over his body.
The victim, whose identity was kept secret, was imprisoned in three houses in the US state of Missouri for several months. Police raided a house on a rural St. Charles County highway on 29 November and arrested his cousin and main accused 35-year-old Venkatesh R Sattaru, 23-year-old Sravan Varma Penumetcha and 27-year-old Nikhil Verma Penmatsa, a day later. They were charged with crimes including kidnapping, assault, and people trafficking. A concerned citizen learned of the young man’s predicament and called 911, prompting the summoning of police to inspect the house.
The student reportedly endured over seven months of torture. He was stripped naked and thrashed with electric wire, PVC pipes, metal rods, wooden boards, sticks and a washing machine’s water supply hose. According to the charges, the accused confined him to a basement and made him sleep on a concrete floor only for three hours where Sattaru kept an eye on him with a surveillance camera. He foraged in neighbouring restaurant dumpsters for scraps.
According to the police, the student was brought to Sattaru’s house in April of this year. He was forced to perform household chores from 4:30 am, work a whole day for Sattaru’s IT business and afterwards finish a list of assignments in the evening. Furthermore, they stated that he would give the other two culprits instructions to beat the victim over a livestream. He would direct them to strike the latter more forcefully if he did not scream loud enough. “Sattaru is a wealthy, powerful man in India with political and law enforcement connections,” the student informed the police.
Prosecutor Joe McCulloch remarked, “It’s absolutely inhumane and unconscionable that one human being could treat another human being like this.” The three perpetrators are suspected of stifling and torturing the victim at three separate houses owned by Sattaru in Defiance, Dardenne Prairie and O’Fallon. Investigators identified Sattaru as the primary conspirator. He lives in the O’Fallon house with his spouse and kids.
He is also accused of assisting in human trafficking by misusing papers and trafficking people for the purpose of servitude. The student was saved from a house where Penumetcha and Penmatsa stay. The student received harsh beatings if he failed to accomplish the chores correctly. He was struck all over his body and forcefully stripped naked, per the accusations. In addition to prior fractures and breaks that did not heal properly, allegations pointed out that he was kicked, stomped and beaten.
The Indian student believed that he would receive a student visa sponsorship from the trio, but he conveyed they destroyed his passport. He also told authorities that he had very little food and was always being watched. According to the authorities, the accused only let him call his mother back home while they were present. He was never permitted to conduct video calls either.
The police briefed a conference, stating that they were first denied entry into the house by a man. The student did, however, finally emerge from the basement running. According to the accusations, he was severely scarred shaking violently and had bruises and swelling all over his body.
On 30 November afternoon, Sattaru’s door was not at his place and court records did not name attorneys for any of the three men. “They beat him with their fists, they stomped on him, they beat him with electrical wiring, with PVC pipes. They forced him to sleep in an unfinished basement, they starved him and limited his access to the public and to restrooms,” proclaimed Joe McCulloch and expressed his gratitude to the person for enabling the rescue mission.
He added, “If you see something, say something. We would much rather check it out and find nothing than have an incident like this that’s been going on for nearly a year.” He noted that the offenders are being held at the St. Charles County Jail without bond because they are well-off and have political ties in India.
