Woman alleges rape, changes statement to blackmail; man arrested

The police said the woman had told them that the man also threatened to release an objectionable video of hers on social media, following which she reported the incident on Wednesday.

A 29-year-old medical professional alleged that she was raped by a 21-year-old man in February in Old Gurugram area, the police said on Thursday. However, the woman later changed her statement, stating the man was only blackmailing her. The man was arrested under the IT Act.

The police said the woman, however, contradicted her earlier statement when it was recorded before a duty magistrate. (Representative image) (AP)

The police said the woman had told them that the man also threatened to release an objectionable video of hers on social media, following which she reported the incident on Wednesday.

According to the police, the suspect, who works in a private company, was arrested and produced in a district court on Thursday.

The police said the woman had alleged in the FIR, registered on Wednesday, that she met the man three years ago at her hometown Agra and reconnected with him after they both moved to the city for their respective jobs.

“In the FIR, the woman had alleged that the suspect took her to his room to discuss something in the last week of February and raped her. She said that for the past few days, he had been threatening to share a video of her on social media with the intention of making it viral,” the police officer said.

The police said the woman, however, contradicted her earlier statement when it was recorded before a duty magistrate.

“In her statement under section 164 of CrPC, she denied that the suspect had raped her and stated that he had hacked her social media account and was threatening to share her pictures online and blackmailing her,” Raj Bala, station house officer (SHO), women’s police station (west), said.

The police said the relevant sections of the IT Act would be added to the FIR and the allegations would be verified.

A case was registered against the man under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at the women’s police station (west) on Wednesday, the police said.