Indian tattoo artist arrested over allegations of rape made by at least six women clients

Allegations surfaced last week when teen said Sujeesh raped her ‘while he still had needle’ on her spine

Sujeesh PS has been accused of rape, sexual assault and molestation (Screengrab: YouTube/NDTV)

Police in India have arrested a tattoo artist from the city of Kochi in Kerala for allegedly raping his clients.

At least six women who had visited the artist’s studio to get a tattoo have accused Sujeesh PS of rape, sexual assault and molestation.

Allegations against the man surfaced last week when an 18-year-old woman narrated her account on Reddit, where she said she was raped when she went to Kochi’s Inkfected tattoo studio. She accused him of asking invasive, personal questions and touching her inappropriately before raping her.

The woman said the man raped her “while he still had the needle” on her spine.

“Ironically I’d mentioned to my friend how this place made me feel more comfortable than most hospitals would have made me feel. Little did I know,” she narrated on Reddit.

She said the accused told her to come back next week as the “tattoo is incomplete” and asked her to not pay any money for it. “I felt so disgusted. I went out pretended like nothing happened asked my friend to just drop me home and that was the end.”

Soon after the teenager shared her account, several women shared similar accounts on social media dating as far back as 2018.

The police have filed six cases against Mr Sujeesh on charges including rape. After he was arrested on Sunday, the police sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. He was initially on the run but surrendered over the weekend after being cornered by the police, officials told NDTV.

Kochi city police commissioner CH Nagaraju said they will take 164 statements from complainants and witnesses over the course of this week.