Washington: A 20-year-old Indian student was saved by US authorities after his cousin and two other males of Indian descent held him captive for months without access to a lavatory, severely beaten him, and had him work at three homes - an act that was called "absolutely inhumane and unconscionable." The unnamed victim was held captive in three homes in the US state of Missouri for several months.
Police descended upon a home on a rural highway in St Charles County route and later detained Venkatesh R Sattaru, Sravan Varma Penumetcha and Nikhil Verma Penmatsa and accused them of crimes involving assault, kidnapping, and human trafficking. After learning of his predicament and calling 911, a concerned passerby requested that police check the residence.
Prosecutor Joe McCulloch stated that the man is safe and receiving treatment at a hospital for numerous bone fractures, cuts, and injuries throughout his body. The allegations state that the men kept the student imprisoned in a basement for seven months, forcing him to sleep on an unfinished floor without access to a restroom.
He scavenged for scraps in nearby restaurant dumpsters and was beaten with electrical wire, PVC pipe, metal rods, wooden boards, sticks and a water supply hose, St Louis Post-Dispatch, a regional newspaper, reported.
“It’s absolutely inhumane and unconscionable that one human being could treat another being like this,” said McCulloch said.