What began as a seemingly casual Instagram chat allegedly ended in the rape of a woman in Delhi by a man who had posed as an Army officer.
A woman doctor was allegedly raped in Delhi by a delivery agent who befriended her by impersonating an Army lieutenant. She approached the police with a rape complaint on October 16 and the accused, identified as Aarav Malik, has been arrested.
According to police, the accused and the woman met on Instagram back in April and continued their conversations on the same platform till September. The accused, Aarav, allegedly posed as an Indian Army lieutenant to befriend the doctor.
On October 16, the woman invited Aarav over to her home in south Delhi's Safdarjung. The accused, a resident of Chhattarpur, allegedly fed the woman doctor some sweets laced with a sedative, after which she fell unconscious. He later raped her, said the police.
“The woman is a doctor of a well known hospital in south Delhi. She approached the police on October 16 with the rape complaint. She met Malik on Instagram in April. They spoke with each other on Instagram till September," senior police officer told HT.
According to DCP (southwest) Amit Goel, Aarav posed as an army officer posted in Kashmir. To further strengthen his disguise and cheat the woman, Aarav allegedly even sent photos and videos of himself in uniform to her.
{{/usCountry}}According to DCP (southwest) Amit Goel, Aarav posed as an army officer posted in Kashmir. To further strengthen his disguise and cheat the woman, Aarav allegedly even sent photos and videos of himself in uniform to her.
{{/usCountry}}“He also sent her photographs of himself in a military uniform to strengthen the deception. However, he works as a delivery executive for a popular e-commerce company.” said the DCP. Not just a uniform, the accused even sent some documents to her to keep up the guise.
The Delhi doctor wasn’t the only woman he allegedly targeted using the Army disguise. Police said he had tried the same tactic on several other women on social media and are now investigating whether he sexually assaulted any of them.
“He told her (woman doctor) that he would be returning after his duty and they decided to meet. He went to her house with spiked sweets. The woman lost consciousness and he raped her,” police said.
Aarav Malik has been arrested, and a case under relevant sections of rape, criminal intimidation, cheating by personation, producing a false document, and causing hurt by substance such as poison, has been registered at the Safdarjung Enclave Police Station in Delhi.
(with inputs from HT correspondent)