Mumbai man arrested for raping woman on pretext of marriage

The woman filed a case in Mumbai against Sunit Waghmare after he refused to marry her. The case was later shifted to Lonavla as Waghmare first allegedly raped the woman at a resort there in 2019

The Maharashtra police have arrested a man for allegedly raping a 27-year-old woman repeatedly on the pretext of marrying her. The woman filed a case in Mumbai against Sunit Waghmare after he refused to marry her. The case was later shifted to Lonavla as Waghmare first allegedly raped the woman at a resort there in 2019.

Representational Image.

“On February 27, we arrested Waghmare from his Mumbai home and produced him in court the next day. The court has remanded Waghmare in police custody up to March 5,” said S Sangale, who is investigating the case.

In her complaint, the woman said she first met Waghmare in 2019 when he offered her a job and began chatting with her over the phone. Waghmare allegedly offered to marry her, but she refused his proposal as he was already married with kids as old as her. Waghmare allegedly told her that he planned to divorce his wife.

“Waghmare asked her to come with him to Lonavla, where he would be meeting his lawyer to discuss the divorce procedure. She went with him to Lonavla to check Waghmare’s divorce claim. But on arriving at a resort, when the woman asked him about the lawyer, he told her that he lied to her.” Waghmare allegedly forced himself upon the woman and allegedly threatened to harm her. He allegedly raped her multiple times and arranged a rented room for her in Mumbai.

Waghmare also allegedly made the woman sign an agreement with him for a live-in relationship before avoiding her by telling her that his wife refused to divorce him. “Even if the accused got into the agreement with the complainant for a live-in relationship... she was forced to have a physical relationship against her consent... it amounts to rape,” said Sangale.