Kerala model's death case: hotel owner booked under POCSO

Kochi: The luxury hotel owner already under investigation for his role in the death of two prominent Kerala models and their friend in November last year has now been booked in a case of sexual assault under the POCSO act, police reports revealed on Sunday.

Roy Vayalat, the owner of the luxury hotel No. 18 where the two models were last seen alive, has been accused of sexual assault by a mother and her minor daughter who alleged that he molested the girl at a DJ party held in his hotel in October last year. The family of the girl also claimed that they were pressured to keep quiet due to blackmail by Vayalat and his associates who threatened to leak visuals of the victim of they complained to the police.

Saiju Thankachan and Anjali are the other two accused in the case. Anjali is accused of having introduced the minor girl to Vayalat after the victim expressed interest in modelling. The accused have moved the Kerala high court for anticipatory bail, a police official said.

"Thankachan and Anjali were with Roy when the incident occurred. The family was threatened by the accused claiming to have videos of the victims, of leaking it on social media," a senior police official said.

Initially, the daughter, who was interested in modelling came in contact with Anjali, who works with an advertisement firm and took them to the hotel in the guise of introducing them to major firms, the mother said. She also alleged that Anjali used drugs frequently during the party.

Former Miss Kerala Ansi Kabeer, runner up Anajana Shajahan and their friend Mohammed Ashiq were killed in a violent cr accident in the early hours of November 1 last year, with police officials alleging that the accident was caused while they were being chased by a car, allegedly driven by Thankachan.

Vayalat has been booked for the destruction of CCTV footage from that night where the three deceased had attended a DJ party at his hotel. Thankachan, an alleged drug peddler, spent over a month in jail.

The case was initially dismissed as a regular accident, but a special investigation team (SIT) inquiry found that they were driven to death by the hotel and drug racketeers.

On November 30, the SIT submitted a report in the Kerala high court, saying if there were no car chase, all three would have been alive.