Man, his driver booked for allegedly raping woman in Thane

The Thane Police in Maharashtra have registered a case against a man and his driver for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman in Thane district on a false promise of job, an official said on Wednesday, reported the PTI.

The prime accused in the case is a resident of Thakurli near Dombivli in Thane district and is known for his reels or short videos on social media platform Instagram, he said, according to the PTI.

The victim, who is from Nashik, alleged in her complaint lodged at the Manpada police station that the suspect sexually assaulted her between February 16 and March 29 this year on the false promise of providing her a job at the Mumbai airport.

The woman said she befriended the suspect on social media. Once he invited her to his office, but when she went there, he threatened her with a gun and sexually assaulted her. He also threatened to kill her parents, the FIR said, according to the PTI.

On March 29, he threatened to release the audio and video recordings of his conversations and acts involving her on social media. He tried to force her to get into his office, molested her and attacked her when she resisted. When she was leaving his office, he and his driver subjected her to a humiliating search and stripped her, as per the PTI.

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against the man who was identified as Surendra Patil and his driver under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 64 (rape), 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 3(5) (common intention) and sections of the Arms Act, the official said, the news agency reported.

Patil has denied the allegations, and claimed that the complaint was false and it was a ploy to extort money, the PTI reported.

Patil was already under investigation for allegedly misusing a licensed firearm, filming reels while sitting in a senior police officer`s chair at the Manpada police station, and displaying large amount of money in his videos, police sources said, the news agency reported.

(with PTI inputs)