Woman alleges rape in posh Worli bungalow by Instagram friend

A 21-year-old woman in Mumbai claims she was drugged and raped by a 24-year-old man, and has filed a police complaint. The accused is currently on the run.

MUMBAI: A 21-year-old woman took to social media on Friday to share she was allegedly drugged and raped on January 13 in a Worli bungalow. She also said she had made a police complaint against the 24-year-old accused on January 16. The police said he was on the run.

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Shared from the account named ‘punish my rapist’, the complainant said that she started speaking to the accused who is the son of an industrialist based in Walkeshwar. She described the entire episode of the alleged rape which she said took place at the residence of a socialite, and informed that the accused had not been arrested yet. The official account of Mumbai police on Instagram also replied to the post assuring her of justice.

Through the post, the woman said that she and the accused had decided to meet after talking over social media for a while. She said they had gone to a couple of places in South Mumbai to party, ending up at a restaurant frequented by several Bollywood celebrities. She said she felt anxious and alone after a few drinks. However, “he insisted I drink more, and I had a blackout episode, not recalling what happened next. I suspect I may have been roofied,” she wrote.

The woman said she then woke up to the accused sexually assaulting her in a house. When she tried to object, he also slapped her. She said she later learnt the house belonged to one of the friends who was also partying with them. After the act, he threatened the woman and fled, she added. The woman said she had to call her cousin to pick her up and told her parents about the incident a couple of days later after which a complaint was registered against the accused, booking him under sections 376 (rape) and 336 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

An official from Worli police said that their team had visited the accused’s house multiple times but did not find him there. “His phone remained switched off. He had also applied for anticipatory bail after which he got an interim relief up to February 6,” the officer added. The statements of the other people mentioned by the woman have been recorded, he said.