Ludhiana: Restaurant manager rapes 16-year-old customer after building rapport

Invites her for dinner next day, deletes his text conversations on her phone, forces her to take contraceptive pill after sexual assault at hotel; now absconding

A restaurant manager is on the run after raping a 16-year-old customer who had dined at his establishment just a day ago.

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The accused, Deepak Kumar, not only threatened the minor girl to stay mum but also forced her to consume an emergency contraceptive pill after raping her at a hotel, the police said.

Investigators shared that Kumar met the girl for the first time on August 6 when she and her friends visited his restaurant near Fountain Chowk.

Offering to share future restaurant deals with her, Kumar took her phone number before she left.

The girl told the police that over the next few hours, Kumar got in touch with her through texts and calls, and also invited her for dinner on August 7.

She agreed to meet him and after dinner he took her to a hotel on Mall Road. There he snatched her mobile phone and deleted the conversations between them, before raping her.

Forced to consume a contraceptive pill after the sexual assault, the girl approached the police on August 9 and lodged a complaint.

“A case under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was immediately registered,” said assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Visakha Singh, who is investigating the case for Division Number 7 police.

She added that the girl’s father, an inspector with the Ludhiana municipal corporation, had died around a year ago. Since then, her mother had gotten married again, and the girl and her 13-year-old brother had started living with their grandmother.

“We have launched a manhunt to arrest the accused. Raids are being conducted,” the ASI said.