18-year-old lured with work in TV serial, raped

Five individuals, including three men and two women, face charges of human trafficking and rape after an 18-year-old escaped her captors in Mumbai.

MUMBAI: Three men and two women have been charged in a case of human trafficking, where an 18-year-old woman was allegedly raped across four months before she managed to escape from her captors and approach the police.

18-year-old lured with work in TV serial, raped

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Kurar police in Malad (East), the survivor, a resident of Malad, had been promised work in one of India’s largest television and film production companies by Sunita Rankhambe, an acquaintance of her family. It seemed like a good opportunity as her brother was the sole breadwinner of the family and they badly needed the money.

According to the FIR, on June 2, Rankhambe came to the woman’s home and promised to get her acting roles in the entertainment company. Rankhambe also said her family would receive ₹20,000 every month when she was on outdoor shooting schedules. The woman’s mother did not suspect anything was amiss and agreed.

Rankhambe took the woman to Titwala, where she introduced her to her daughter Sonal Waghmare and son-in-law Vikas Waghmare, according to the FIR. On June 3, the four of them were drinking tea in a restaurant, where the woman was introduced to a man named Sameer. He, in turn, introduced her to Amir. The latter allegedly spiked a drink he had offered her and she passed out, said the FIR.

The next day, the woman found Amir with her and she told Sameer something was amiss. Instead, Sameer showed her a video of her being raped. Desperate, she turned to Rankhambe, only to realise that she too was part of the plan to blackmail her with the video, which they threatened to post on the internet if the woman didn’t do as she was told.

The woman was forced to live in Rankhambe’s home and, in July, Sameer took her to Goa, to ostensibly audition for a role in Goa. Once there, he spiked her drink and raped her more than once. This happened again in August. On September 30, the woman phoned her brother and asked him to pick her up, but Sameer refused to let that happen, according to the FIR.

On October 5, the woman escaped from Rankhambe’s home and returned to her family in Malad. She then approached the police, who have charged Sunita Rankhambe, her daughter and son-in-law, Sameer and Amir with human trafficking, rape and common intention. The charges have been registered under Section 143(2), 64 (2)(d) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. “The accused are absconding and we are searching for them,” said a police officer with the Kurar police.

The survivor, however, said the police have not made any attempt to arrest the accused. “We have been running from pillar to post but the police are ignoring the case,” said the woman.