9 people were charged with holding young women captive and sexually abusing them for months

Muzaffarpur: Nine people in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district have been charged with allegedly keeping several young women captive for months and sexually abusing them under the pretext of providing them with jobs, police said.

It was said that the defendants had dealings with a fake marketing company.

“All the nine accused are absconding and the police have launched a manhunt to nab them. The case has been registered on the directions of a court,” said deputy SP Vinita Sinha.

One of the survivors has filed a complaint against the nine people in court, she said.

“We have recorded the statement of the complainant as well as several other victims. The complaint reveals that the accused first contacted her through social media in June 2022 and asked her to come to Muzaffarpur to get a good job,” Sinha said.

“When she came to Muzaffarpur, she was initially kept in a room. Several other young girls were also there. Later, they were taken to an unknown location and all of them were busy calling young women and offering them lucrative jobs in their fake company,” the official said.

Eventually, the defendants began living with the victims, she said.

“The victims were held captive by the accused. They were beaten and sexually abused by the accused. The plaintiff and other victims were also forced into forced marriages,” she added.

“Later, they were deceived and had their fetus aborted. The complainant also told the police that every time they asked about their salary, the accused told them that they were now part of the company. Finally, the survivor managed to escape and went to the police station to file a complaint,” Sinha said.

The survivor stated that the police initially rejected her complaint, which is why she turned to the court.

Sinha said an investigation was underway into why her complaint was not initially submitted to the police.