Air India cabin crew member held for raping girl

A cabin crew member working with Air India was arrested today for allegedly repeatedly raping a girl under the pretext of marrying her, police said.

The victim, employed with an event management firm, was seeking a match for herself when she was introduced to the accused, Raj Patel (22) by a common contact in August 2012, a Crime Branch officer said.

They soon started meeting regularly since March this year and over last eight months Patel repeatedly raped her in his house in New Delhi and suburban Borivali.

The girl also alleged that Patel staged a marriage with her in a temple in Delhi.

"When the girl became pregnant, Patel forced her to abort and refused to marry her," said the officer.

Based on the complaint of the girl filed with Borivali Police on November 5, Patel was booked under sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code.

The crime branch started a parallel probe as Borivali police could not make any headway in the case.

"Our officers got a tip-off that Patel would be visiting Borivali after which he was taken into custody", the officer said, adding that the accused was handed over to Borivali police.