Kerala Police bust partner swapping network: From members to social media networks used, all you need to know

The Kerala Police busted a 'couple swapping' network on Sunday and has arrested seven people for their alleged involvement in the racket.

As the investigations continue and cops say that more arrests are likely to be made, here's a look at what happened.

Unearthing the ‘partner swapping’ racket

The incident came to light on 8 January when a woman, a homemaker, lodged a complaint, alleging that for the last two years, her husband had forced her to have sex with multiple people in a 'couple-swapping' network. She also alleged that she was subjected to unnatural sex.

In response, the police began investigating and arrested seven people, including her husband, from Karukachal in the Kottayam district.

The authorities have said that while they have arrested seven people, 25 others are under observation and more arrests are likely to be made in a couple of days.

The police said that their probe had revealed that more than 1,000 couples were part of this group and they were exchanging women.

The gang is said to have used Telegram, Messenger apps to contact each other.

According to a News Minute report, the group had people from across the state, including high-ranking officials.

Explaining the modus operandi, a senior police official was quoted as telling news agency IANS, "The modus operandi is to first join the Telegram and Messenger groups and then two or three couples meet periodically. After that women are exchanged and there were even instances of a woman being shared by three men at a time. Money also changed hands as some single members in the group with some men providing their wives for money for a day of physical relationship."

According to the police, the couples who had agreed to partner swapping had avoided hotels to avoid getting caught and most of the activities were carried out in houses.

Not the first time

This is not the first time partner swapping has been reported from Kerala.

In 2019, four people were arrested in Kayamkulam in a similar incident. The wife of an arrested man alleged that she was forced to have sex with two people and the husband was asking her to sleep with more strangers. They were communicating through a social media app — ShareChat.

In 2013, the wife of an Indian Navy officer posted in Kochi had accused her husband's seniors of approaching the officer with an offer of wife swapping in 2012. The woman claimed that the senior officer even threatened her husband when he refused to oblige him.

With inputs from agencies

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