25-year-old man arrested after one year for blackmailing and raping a woman

Almost a year after he went into hiding between June 2022 and July 2023 following the sexual exploitation and blackmailing of a woman, the 25-year-old perpetrator finally landed in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (Zone II) of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police on Saturday.

The accused, Atul Jaiprakash Yadav, was arrested from Sion East. In her complaint filed at Naigaon police station in Vasai on July 14, 2023, the woman stated that the accused took her to SP Hotel on the pretext of meeting her friend, where he laced her with juice laced with some sedatives. The accused not only raped her but also made obscene videos.

He later blackmailed her by threatening to share the video on social media platforms and took her to various hotels where he sexually exploited her on multiple occasions over a period of over a year.

Fed up with the ordeal, the woman went to Naigaon police station where she pleaded guilty to an offence under sections 376 (rape), 76 (2)(N) (multiple rapes of the same woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

A police team visited all the hotels where the accused was staying regularly and found that he was staying in a rented house near Antop Hill Church. The team activated its informant network and arrested him on Saturday based on a tip-off. Further investigation was underway.

Published on: Monday, July 1, 2024, 01:31 IST