The US authorities on Friday have rescued a 20-year-old Indian student, who was held captive for months without access to a bathroom, viciously beaten, and forced to work at 3 homes by his cousin and 2 other men in an incident described as “absolutely inhumane & unconscionable.”
The victim, whose name wasn’t disclosed, spent months trapped in 3 homes in the US state of Missouri.
Police descended upon a home on a rural highway in St. Charles County. Later, they arrested Venkatesh R Sattaru, Sravan Varma Penumetcha and Nikhil Verma Penmatsa, and on Thursday they charged them with offences including human trafficking, kidnapping and assault.
Police were dispatched to investigate the home after a concerned citizen became aware of his situation and called 911.
Prosecutor Joe McCulloch stated that the victim is safe and was being treated at a hospital for multiple bone fractures, as well as lacerations and injuries covering his entire body.
The charges says that over 7 months, the men locked the student in a basement and forced him to sleep on an unfinished floor without access to a bathroom.
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 for a washing machine.
McCulloch at a news conference on Thursday stated that, “It’s absolutely inhumane and unconscionable that one human being could treat another human being like this.”
The 3 defendants are accused of confining & abusing the victim at 3 different homes owned by Sattaru in Defiance, Dardenne Prairie and O’Fallon, starting in April 2023, according to St Charles County’s official website.
Sattaru was identified by investigators as the ringleader and lives in the O’Fallon home with his wife and children.
The main suspect in the case, Sattaru, 35, is additionally charged with human trafficking for the purpose of slavery and contributing to human trafficking through misuse of documentation.
Penumetcha & Penmatsa live in the home where the student was rescued.
Authorities stated that the student came to the US from India last year with hopes of studying at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. Instead, he was taken to Sattaru’s homes beginning in April and was forced to begin chores around 4:30 am, work a full day for Sattaru’s IT company and then complete a list of evening tasks.
Therefore, according to court documents, the student told police he regularly got 3 hours of sleep on a concrete floor in a locked basement where Sattaru monitored him with a surveillance camera.
If the 20-year-old didn’t complete the tasks properly, he was severely beaten. Charges say that he was forced to strip down naked and was hit all over his body. He was kicked, stomped and lashed, charges say, and his injuries included previous fractures and breaks that didn’t heal properly.
No one answered the door at Sattaru’s home on Thursday afternoon. None of the 3 men attorneys listed in court documents.
McCulloch stated, “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.” McCulloch commended that citizen for making the rescue possible.
McCulloch stated, “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.”
Because the 3 suspects are wealthy and have political connections in India, McCulloch stated that they are being held at the St. Charles County Jail without bond.
Neighbours in O’Fallon got shaken by the arrests.
Many said they’d pleasant interactions with the family, waving as they passed on the street or playing with children in the cul-de-sac.
“It’s shocking, for sure,” said Chirag Shah (lives down the street from Sattaru’s home).
And in Defiance, an unincorporated community of less than 100 people known for its wineries, gift shops and position along the Katy Trail, neighbours watched as police flocked to the home beginning Wednesday morning.
Police were told at first by a man in the home that they couldn’t come inside, but the 20-year-old eventually came running from the basement. Charges say that he was trembling uncontrollably, heavily scarred and suffering from bruising and swelling all over his body.
