Delhi woman, accomplice held for extorting men by filing sexual assault cases

Delhi Police arrested a 44-year-old woman and her accomplice for extorting men by threatening false rape allegations over 12 years.

New Delhi

A case under Section 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life) of the Indian Penal Code was filed. (Representative photo)

A 44-year-old woman and her male accomplice, also aged 44, were arrested by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch for allegedly extorting men by threatening to file false cases of rape and sexual assault over the past 12 years, officers aware of the matter said on Thursday.

The woman used to befriend men through social media platforms under various pretexts and later threatened them for payouts. The accomplice, identified as Yashdev Singh Chauhan, posed as an advocate to resolve disputes and finalise financial settlements, officers said. The woman was found to have filed at least nine such cases across multiple police stations in Delhi, police said. The police withheld the identity of the woman.

The arrests on Wednesday were made on a complaint filed by a retired Captain of the Indian Army in December 2025, who was reportedly approached by the woman through social media on the pretext of offering professional services to promote his novels, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Aditya Gautam said.

Previously, the woman had filed a case of rape, sexual assault, drugging and threat at the Mehrauli police station in 2021, the DCP said.

“A charge sheet was filed in the case following the investigation. However, the retired army officer challenged the proceedings in the Delhi High Court and subsequently, in the apex court. The Supreme Court quashed the FIR through a judgment on February 25, 2025, observing that the proceedings were an abuse of the process of law. Subsequently, the retired officer filed an extortion case, alleging false implication by the woman for the purpose of extortion in connivance with an associate,” DCP Gautam said.

A probe by the Crime Branch’s interstate cell found that the woman had filed nine cases across Delhi, and statements of those named in the cases corroborated their findings on the modus operandi. After lodging FIRs, the woman used her accomplice to represent her in a legal standing. Chauhan was found to be employed as a clerk at an advocate’s office.

Police recovered a pen drive of audio recordings of multiple settlement negotiations, and sent it for forensic analysis. A mobile phone containing incriminating audio recordings was also seized.

The DCP said a case under Section 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life) of the Indian Penal Code was filed.