A 20-year-old Indian student held captive in the US state of Missouri, who was forced to work at three homes for over seven months, has been rescued by US authorities. The victim, who had no bathroom access, faced vicious beatings with PVC pipes.
On Wednesday, police intervened at a rural St. Charles County home, arresting Venkatesh R Sattaru (35), Sravan Varma Penumetcha (27), and Nikhil Verma Penmatsa (23). St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph McCulloch announced charges against all three, including counts related to human trafficking, kidnapping, and other crimes. They are jailed without bond, and attorneys are not listed yet.
MULTIPLE BONE FRACTURES AND LACERATIONS
The police learned about the victim when a concerned citizen called 911. He is now safe and receiving treatment at a hospital for multiple bone fractures, lacerations, and injuries covering his entire body. The men, who locked the student in a basement, forced him to sleep on an unfinished floor without access to a bathroom.
The 20-year-old victim was forced to scavenge 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, according to a local newspaper. “It’s absolutely inhumane and unconscionable that one human being could treat another human being like this,” said McCulloch at a news conference Thursday.
‘THREE DEFENDANTS ACCUSED OF ABUSE’
The three defendants are accused of confining and abusing the victim at three 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 and Penmatsa live in the home where the student was rescued.
Authorities said the student had come 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.
