The Kerala Police, on Thursday, arrested four persons, including a Rajasthani woman, on charges of gang rape of a 19-year-old model inside a moving car in Kochi.

Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju said that the police recorded the arrest of all four accused in the gang-rape of a model in Kochi on Thursday night.

Earlier, the police had taken Dimple Lamba (Dolly), hailing from Rajasthan, and Kodungalur natives, Vivek, Sudeep, and Nithin, into custody in connection with the alleged gang rape that took place in Kochi. It is learnt that the three men are Dimple Lamba’s friends.

The city police commissioner said that the probe team also slapped conspiracy charges against the accused. The victim was convinced and brought to the bar in the name of a DJ party. Dimple Lamba who is also active in the modelling field was acquainted with the victim. The police said they were investigating the background of the four accused and will produce them before court soon.

The accused were charged under sections for criminal conspiracy, rape, and kidnapping among others.

Meanwhile, the police have recorded the statement of the victim, who hails from Kasargod. She reportedly told the police that her modelling friend Dimple Lamba took her to a bar near Cochin shipyard where she was given beer mixed with some intoxicant. After drinking it, the girl collapsed.

“I was gang-raped by three men as long as they drove the car around the city on Thursday night,” she reportedly told the police.

The accused then dropped her at her apartment in Kakkanad. It was the survivor’s friend that informed the police about the incident and shifted her to a hospital. The girl is currently undergoing treatment at Kalamassery Medical College hospital.

The girl told the police that she could identify all the men who sexually assaulted her in the car.

Responding to the incident, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly VD Satheesan said the news that a 19-year-old girl was gang raped in a moving car in Kochi city is shocking. He also asked whether this is the women’s safety that the government is always propagating about.

The Opposition leader said in a statement that the police had also failed to notice the gang-rape that took place on street.

“A girl was gang-raped for three-and-a-half hours on street in a lively city, but the police did not notice it,” Satheesan said.