Indian Student, 20, Held Captive For Months At US Home: Details Here

Three Indian-origin men have been arrested on account of assaulting and holding a 20-year-old fellow Indian man captive in the basement of their home in Missouri, USA. The student was brutally beaten up and held for seven months and forced to work at three homes by his cousin and two other men. The incident came to light when a concerned neighbour reported suspicious activity to the 911 emergency helpline.

The rescued student is undergoing treatment for multiple fractures, lacerations and injuries. He had come to the USA last year to study at the Missouri State University of Science and Technology in Rolla. The police did not wish to reveal the identity of the ailing man, reports stated.

Brutally Tortured For Seven Months

One of the 20-year-old survivor's cousins was the prime accused in this matter. He and two other men took the student to his house in St. Charles County in April and forced him to begin chores in the middle of the wee hours, work a full day for his IT company and then complete a list of evening tasks. Later, the student was subjected to thrashings every day for seven months.

The survivor told the police that his cousin, 35-year-old Venkatesh Sattaru, instructed 23-year-old Sravan Varma Penumetcha and 27-year-old Nikhil Verma Penmatsa to regularly beat him up using PVC pipes and other tough objects. The student also told the police that Sattaru would beat him up more if he "did not scream loud enough" in pain.

The beaten-up student was locked up in the basement for most of the day and made to sleep on the concrete floor for less than three hours without access to food or a bathroom. Sattaru monitored him with a surveillance camera, according to court documents.

Accused Held For Trafficking

Sattaru, Penumetcha, and Penmatsa have been arrested for multiple offences including human trafficking, kidnapping and assault. St. Charles County Jail officials said that the student reported to them that Sattaru is a "wealthy, powerful man in India with political and law enforcement connections."

Police disclosed that Venkatesh Sattaru was additionally charged with human trafficking for slavery and contributing to human trafficking through misuse of documentation. Prosecutor Joe McCulloch said on November 30 that the student is recovering.McCulloch commented, “It's absolutely inhumane and unconscionable that one human being could treat another human being like this,”