Police have arrested a couple in Agra on the charge of abducting and keeping a club dancer in confinement, raping her and forcing her to join prostitution.

Locked in the flat of the accused in Tajganj for three days, the victim somehow escaped from there on Sunday and reached the police station.

Syed Areeb Ahmad, assistant commissioner of police of Tajganj, told the reporters that they had arrested Vinay Gupta and his wife Meera Gupta from Flat No. 107 of Rajkamal Apartment.

“The accused Vinay Gupta runs an event company. He had hired a dancer from Ghaziabad to perform at a programme in Agra city. According to the victim, the accused took her to his flat where his wife offered her tea. She fell unconscious after having tea. Later, when the dancer gained consciousness, she found herself locked in a room of the flat,” he said.

He quoted the complainant as saying in her statement: “Vinay tried to lure me into his prostitution racket while promising crores of rupees. He raped me for three days and kept forcing me to agree to join him. I somehow ran away from there on the third day of confinement and reached the police station.”

“We have arrested the couple after finding substance in the complaint,” said the officer.

Another police officer said on condition of anonymity that they had received a tip-off about the activities of the accused but couldn’t reach the end of the thread in the past.

“This time, they couldn’t hide their nefarious activities. Earlier also, we had similar complaints but had failed to substantiate it during the inquiry. Laying hands on such people is very difficult without having proof against them,” said a police officer.

"Last time, a woman had jumped from the balcony of the same apartment to save herself from the flesh traders. However, the accused had claimed that the victim was involved in a sex racket. We hope to crack a bigger nexus in Agra city after arresting Vinay and his wife,” said the officer.

A neighbour of Vinay said: “We knew that Vinay was running a sex racket but didn’t say anything because of his contacts with powerful people. He used to bring girls here almost every night. His clients would also visit the flat late in the night. Vinay lives in Noori Darwaja in Agra city and uses this flat and some other flats to run his racket.”

Jail suicide

A 24-year-old undertrial allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in the toilet of a barrack in Himatnagar sub-jail in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, police said on Sunday, PTI reported.

The incident occurred on Saturday morning and an entry was made in the station diary of Himatnagar B-division police station later in the day, the police officer said.

Vipul Mathasuliya hanged himself from a rope tied to the ventilator of a toilet on the first floor of the barrack on Saturday morning when prisoners lined up for breakfast, said J.G. Chavda, district jail superintendent, Himatnagar district prison.

Mathasuliya was accused of raping a minor and was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. He was lodged at the sub-jail since July, he said.

The reason for the extreme step is unclear, the officer said.

The body was sent to Ahmedabad for forensic post-mortem, and a case of accidental death was registered, he said.