The 27-year-old South African model who was allegedly raped last December after being abducted from a pub at Hotel Bawa International, has claimed that her lawyer and she have been receiving repeated death threats, not only in India but also in Durban, where the model had returned after the incident.
The victim, who returned to the city on Sunday after undergoing medical treatment and psychiatric counselling in South Africa, says she came back to “fight the case and get justice from Indian authorities”. She claims she received the threatening calls on her cellphone and is now planning to complain to the Mumbai crime branch. “I received these threats on my phone when I was in Durban and also after having returned to India three days ago,” said the victim on Wednesday.
The model added that the yet-to-be identified caller initially offered her financial inducements to drop the case. When this didn’t work, he resorted to issuing threats. “He would constantly threaten me that they would kill me if I did not close the rape case. They said they knew all about me and I would not be able to escape reprisal. They also said that they are ready to give me an unspecified amount of money if I comply with their demand,” said the victim, a divorcee and mother of two young daughters.
Similarly, threats were also made to the victim’s lawyer, Falguni Brahmbhatt. “Family members of one of the two accused, a bar owner from Ulhasnagar, had asked me to take a bribe and stay away from the case that in any case, according to them, would end in acquittal for all the accused,” said Brahmbhatt.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, threats were also made to the victim’s lawyer, Falguni Brahmbhatt. “Family members of one of the two accused, a bar owner from Ulhasnagar, had asked me to take a bribe and stay away from the case that in any case, according to them, would end in acquittal for all the accused,” said Brahmbhatt.
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