Anand
(Gujarat), September 21: An incident so heinous and shocking has come to the
fore from Gujarat that people will lose their faith in humanity. Three accused,
a doctor, an advocate, and a photographer were arrested by police in Gujarat’s Anand
on Sunday for allegedly raping a woman on multiple instances, blackmailing her, and circulating her private photographs and videos.
According to
the police, the accused Sandeep Kumar Chandrashekhar, photographer by
profession from Anand, Ahmedabad-based advocate Pradyumansinh Gohil and Dr. Mehul Prajapati, a physician from Borsad town were arrested based on the
complaint filed by a middle-aged woman in Anand, a week ago.
In her
complaint, the victim said that the three accused conspired and raped her on
multiple instances in the past one-and-a-half years by forcefully clicking her
private photographs and subsequently blackmailing her. An FIR was lodged at the
Cyber Crime Police Station of Anand, Gujarat.
“The woman
became friends with Sandeep Kumar four years ago and they both had a fight over
some issue around one-and-a-half years ago… when he started demanding money
from her. The woman then stopped communicating with him,” said a senior officer
of the Cyber Crime Cell of Anand Police.
“It was
around that time that she got a call from advocate Pradyuman Gohil who claimed
that he was looking to hire an employee. The woman showed interest in getting a
job and started talking with Gohil and revealed that she was being harassed by
Sandeep. Gohil then made a conference call with the woman and Sandeep, and
asked Sandeep not to harass her anymore for money,” the officer added.
According to
police, later the advocate called up the victim to a hotel claiming that he
gave money to Sandeep to help her and allegedly raped her along with clicking
her pictures and videos. “A few days later, the advocate again tried to call
the woman to a hotel and when she resisted, he threatened to leak her pictures
and videos. The woman then went to another hotel where the advocate again did
the same,” the officer added.
As per the
woman’s complaint, Sandeep was hiding in the bathroom of the hotel where she
was with the advocate. Sandeep also allegedly clicked her pictures and videos
and later raped her on several instances by threatening to leak them online.
“Later, when
the victim woman fell sick, she went to a physician Dr. Mehul Prajapati, who
later started calling her on her number. The woman then blocked the number
after which the doctor used another number to send her pictures and videos,
which were clicked by the two other accused. The accused doctor then forced
himself on the woman multiple times,” the officer said.
All three
accused are now booked under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (2)N for committing
rape on a woman on multiple instances and 354b for assault on a woman as well as
sections of the Information Technology Amendment Act.