Woman tries to blackmail, extort from boyfriend’s family members

A woman in Mumbai alleged that her brother-in-law's girlfriend tried to extort money from the family and threatened to kill the women in the family. Police are investigating the matter.

MUMBAI: A woman from Goregaon East alleged that her brother-in-law’s girlfriend tried to extort money from the family saying she would level allegations against all male members of their family and when she saw no money coming her way, the accused allegedly threatened to kill the women in the family by putting a knife to their throats. The Dahisar police are investigating the matter.

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The complainant, Sonali Ahiwale, said that the accused Sadhna was in a relationship with her younger brother-in-law Ramchandra. The younger brother, she told the police, had been married but had been living alone in Vasai for several years and was not very close to the other brothers. He claims to be married to Sadhana but never officially split from his wife, she further said.

“On the night of January 5, Ramchandra and Sadhana came to the complainant’s house in Santosh Nagar. He told the family the two were stuck in Mumbai and requested to stay over for the night. They were supposed to leave the next morning but Sadhana was still there when Sonali returned from work,” said an official from Dahisar police. When her husband didn’t return until much later, Sadhana also refused to leave the house, he added.

The accused then got into an argument with the complainant and family, saying she would kill them as well as herself. During the fight, she also said that if Ramchandra didn’t come to get her, she would ensure that each of his family members suffered even if she had to file fake complaints against them. “Meanwhile, the family kept calling Ramchandra but his phone was switched off,” said the officer.

Sadhana then asked the Ahiwale family to give her ₹3 lakh to leave their house. She said she would file a rape complaint against the two brothers at home if she didn’t get the money.

“The next morning Sonali’s five-year-old daughter was missing from home. Sadhana said the child was in Vasai after which Sonali and her sister-in-law went to get the girl home. On the pretext of taking the women to meet the child, Sadhana took them in a dark alleyway, put knives on their throats and asked them to pay up,” said the officer. The two women escaped and ran towards the station.

Based on the complaint, the police had booked Sadhana under sections 385 (putting a person in fear of harm while committing extortion), 389 (putting a person in fear of accusation of offence while committing extortion) and 506 2 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.