Mumbai Crime: Worli man arrested for raping, extorting doctor

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Gamdevi Police have arrested a 38-year-old man on November 9 for raping and extorting money from a south Mumbai-based doctor, threatening to leak her personal chats and pictures to her husband and friends, and post them online. When produced in court, the accused was remanded in police custody till November 13. An FIR was filed against the man on November 8 under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 500 (defamation) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Per the doctor's complaint, the accused, who is a resident of Worli and regular at a club in the area, tried to become friends with the doctor and take advantage of her while she was going through domestic issues. He approached her by asking about her personal life and gained her trust by claiming that he was going through the same issues as her; they spoke to each other via messaging apps.

The accused asked to meet the doctor when she confronted him about spreading gossip about her at the club he frequented. He claimed he had not been talking about her. At their meeting, he allegedly made her drink alcohol while claiming the drinks were non-alcoholic. The drinks made her feel dizzy and the accused subsequently drove her home on the pretext of dropping her because she was ill, and took advantage of her while she was inebriated.

When dropping the doctor home, the accused asked her if there was any alcohol at home. When the doctor said there was a bottle of wine at home, he accompanied her. The doctor, dizzy from the drinks, proceeded to the bedroom, and the accused followed her.

When the doctor woke up the next day, she didn't realise when the man had left her home. Following this, the accused called the doctor and spoke to her on the pretext that he cared for her. On October 30, he demanded Rs 8000 from her, which she readily gave; but when he asked for an additional Rs 50,000, she denied his request. "He started abusing me and threatened to send chats, pictures and videos to my husband and friends," the doctor said in her statement to the police.

Fearing that he would release this information online and make it go viral, the doctor gave in and paid the accused R3.33 lakh on November 2. At this point in her ordeal, she decided to go to the police and lodged an FIR.