Rape victim climbs tower to protest, main accused held

A man has been arrested for raping a woman who on Monday climbed atop a 200-foot mobile phone tower here protesting the sexual assault, police said on Wednesday.

Accused J P Walia, said to be around 30-years-old, was arrested on Tuesday night in a colony in Gurgaon.

He was on Wednesday sent to 14 days’ judicial custody by a court here, police said.Walia and five other people have been booked on charges of rape and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. The five others have not been arrested so far.

The woman from Kolkata had on Tuesday recorded her statement in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Kumad Gugani.

She said on Tuesday Walia raped her in his photo studio in Tikri on September 28 last year after befriending her.

She said he promised to marry her and forced her to have sex with him on several occasions.

Later, Walia told her he would spread rumours that she was a prostitute, she added.Walia had also allegedly threatened her and sent goons to her house who ‘ordered her to leave Gurgaon or face consequences worse than rape’.

The woman — who works as a domestic help — is married but has been living separately from her husband for six years. She was residing in Tikri since September 2013.

On Monday, high drama was witnessed when she climbed atop the mobile phone tower alleging she was raped.

However, she climbed down after four hours after she was attacked by crows.