Quite disappointing
Kolkata ‘rape’ case: Police make first arrest on counter-complaint by accused; deeper conspiracy suspected
The case in which a 24-year-old aspiring actor in Kolkata alleged that her former boyfriend raped her in a moving car following which the man filed a counter-complaint of kidnapping against her, has taken a fresh turn with the police making an arrest in the latter complaint.
The police are now probing the possibility that there was a deep conspiracy to trap the man, who is associated with the Bengali film industry.
The woman had alleged that she was raped in the presence of a driver, 34, whose arrest was recorded by the anti-rowdy squad on Saturday. He has been remanded in police custody for 10 days. The police are on the lookout for one more person involved in the incident.
According to the police, investigation indicates that the rape-accused man was indeed kidnapped on the day of the incident. It is now suspected that the woman may have lodged a false complaint of rape against him over some “personal grudge”. Allegedly, the woman, her friend and the driver took a car belonging to the rape-accused man and kept roaming in the city before going to the police with her complaint.
A senior police official said, “We are still searching for evidence that can corroborate the rape allegation.” Notably, the woman did not turn up to record her statement before the magistrate on Wednesday.
Officers said the woman had filed the rape complaint on December 4. However, preliminary investigation revealed that the man accused of raping her was not present in the car at the time of the alleged incident. It is learnt that the man and his driver were locked in a room and beaten up.
According to police sources, the arrested 34-year-old and one of his friends called the rape-accused man over the phone on the pretext of watching a movie. The two allegedly trapped the man and his driver in a flat and beat him up. After handcuffing both of them in the house, the 34-year-old and his friend took the man’s car and left. The complainant woman also got into the car.
The three allegedly proceeded to watch a movie at a mall that evening before driving around for a long time. The police have obtained CCTV footage of the same, sources said.
According to investigators, the woman went to a police station later to report the incident, but the officers there refused to take her complaint. Later she approached another police station.
Express News Service – 2023-12-11 16:33