Gurugram police reopen minor rape case, book lawyer couple for extortion

Probe found 2024 POCSO case was fabricated to pressure the child’s father amid marital discord, with police invoking cheating, extortion and false charge sections.

Police in Gurugram have reopened a one and a half year old rape case involving a minor girl and booked a lawyer and her husband for allegedly falsely implicating the child’s father to extort money from him, officials said.

Case reopened after nexus surfaced involving false complaints, cash seizures worth over ₹4 crore and allegations of pressuring men into financial settlements. (File photo)

Investigators said the case dates back to May 19, 2024, when a woman alleged in a complaint that her husband had sexually assaulted their nine-year-old daughter. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at the Women’s police station (west) under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Hitesh Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (South), said the case was cancelled on April 1 this year after no evidence was found against the father and the circumstances appeared suspicious, since the father had been residing in Ghaziabad.“However, we got the case reopened on December 11 on court permission when it came to light that it was a fake case using which money was extorted from the minor’s father who was in a marital discord with his wife,” Yadav said.

Yadav said the false case surfaced after police busted a nexus involving a lawyer and her husband on November 6. The couple allegedly worked with a balloon seller and his wife to implicate men who had marital dispute in fake rape cases involving minor children to extort money.

“We have invoked sections 384 (extortion), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 22 (giving false information with intent to humiliate, extort or defame) of the Pocso Act in the case against the lawyer and her husband,” Yadav said, adding that a decision on whether the child’s mother would also be made an accused would be taken after further investigation.

Sharing the details of the case that led to their arrest, investigators said that, on the lawyer’s instructions, the ballon seller had on October 29 a case registered against a Gurugram-based IT firm owner for kidnapping and sexually assaulting his minor son at the Sector 65 police station.

An investigation into that case led to their arrest of from their apartment in Sector 72 on November 6, along with the seizure of ₹1.14 crore in cash and gold ornaments worth ₹2.85 crore. The balloon seller was also arrested. Police said the accused used the fake case to pressure the IT firm owner to pay a settlement amount to his wife amid a marital dispute.

“In both the fake cases, the lawyer was in touch with the couples. She had sided with the wives and got the fake cases registered to extort money from the husbands besides collecting hefty fees,” Yadav said.

Last week, police formally arrested the couple in the 2024 case and took them into remand for questioning. Yadav said the investigation revealed that the man and his wife had collectively paid ₹44 lakh to the lawyer, with the man paying to facilitate a settlement of the fabricated rape case, while his wife paid for securing a hefty monetary settlement.

“The Ghaziabad man’s wife had even filed a domestic violence case against him. The lawyer had given the wife a printed complaint containing a concocted story of her minor daughter’s rape to submit to police,” Yadav added.