Two men, Shaan Khanyal and Achal Close, alongside a teenager, have been jailed for kidnapping and robbery after abducting and torturing a young couple, tasering the male victim’s genitals, and holding a knife to the female victim’s throat in Coventry, England.
The trio pleaded guilty to the offences at the Warwick Crown Court on Friday. Khanyal (24) was jailed for ten years and five months and Chauhan (24) was jailed for nine years. Matis Cohene (18), who was 15-years-old at the time of the attack, was given a two-year detention and training order.
The court heard that the two teenage victims, both aged 19, had gone to a party in October of 2017. The following day, the couple were told that they owed Khanyal money for food and drink, which they agreed to pay, later travelling to a local address to hand over £30.
The two victims were then abducted and had their phones confiscated by the kidnappers. During their abduction, the young man was forced to strip, wear his girlfriend’s clothes, and had eggs and flour poured over him. His captors also tasered his testicles and ordered him to rub Deep Heat muscle relaxer in his anus, according to the local newspaper the Coventry Observer.
“He was forced to strip and had eggs and flour thrown at him and then made to lie on his bed and rub Deep Heat into his bottom,” said Prosecutor Daniel Oscroft.
Believing that his torture would not end, the young man attempted to commit suicide.
His girlfriend was also subjected to torture by the three kidnappers. She had a knife held to her throat, air freshener squeezed into her mouth, and was tricked into thinking that a gun was being held to her head.
At one point during the two-day ordeal, the victims were taken to a shop where a man called Max forced them to withdraw £240 from the male victim’s account. Both were then taken to Max’s house.
“Max produced a butcher’s knife and held it to her throat, and she was told to write down the names of everyone she had told about the previous day,” the prosecutor said.
“Khanyal then poured juice over her and Chauhan squeezed talc over her head. They opened the attic and told her to go up, but she would not go,” Mr Oscroft added.
The group also stole the young couple’s jewellery and their Playstation 4.
The kidnappers eventually released their victims, threatening them not to tell anyone about the gruesome ordeal. The couple refused to abide by the order, reporting the trio to the police the next day.
The male victim said in a statement: “Because of these events I have moved away from Coventry and my friends and family. I have had to start a whole new life, and I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.”
DC Richard Walker, from force CID, said: “This was an absolutely sickening sustained attack on two people who had done nothing wrong. They were hounded, harassed and humiliated, and I hope the prison sentences offer them some comfort after what they went through.
“I am glad to see these men behind bars, and I would always urge anyone who has ever been subjected to anything of this nature to come forward. We will always do all we can to find those responsible.”
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