Ghaziabad woman arrested for 'fabricated' gang-rape charges

A woman who had allegedly levelled a "fabricated" gang-rape charge in an attempt to grab property was arrested on Saturday, a day after police booked her and three of her accomplices for cheating and forgery.

The Delhi woman had claimed that she was kidnapped and raped by five men for two days.

"The woman was arrested by our police team. She was presented before a magistrate to record her statement. The court has sent her to 14 days in judicial custody," Superintendent of Police (City-I) Ghaziabad Nipun Agarwal said.

Her accomplices Azad, Afzal and Gaurav were arrested earlier.

On Friday, police had said that the woman, Azad, Afzal and Gaurav have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to cheating, forgery and fraudulently using genuine documents.

Also Read | 26-year-old techie, on work from home, raped by 10 men in Jharkhand's Chaibasa

They have been charged under IPC sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently using as genuine document which the person knows or has reason to believe to be forged), Circle Officer, City-2, Ghaziabad, Alok Dubey, had said.

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Wednesday had said that the 36-year-old woman was found wrapped in a jute bag, with her hands and legs tied, and an iron rod was inserted in her private parts.

However, during a press conference on Thursday, the Ghaziabad police dismissed as "fabricated" the woman's claim that she had been raped and brutalised by the five men and said a conspiracy had been hatched over a dispute over a "small" property. Of the five, four were arrested.

During the conference, when asked if a clean chit will be given to the four persons, Inspector General (IG), Meerut, Praveen Kumar, had said, "We have not got any evidence against them...Prima facie, in this case, no such incident has taken place. So, there is no question of getting evidence."

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday had said that contradictory statements were made by the woman and her family members.

On the women's claim that she was kidnapped, IG Kumar had said," No. She had gone to a designated place at her own will."

Chats analysed by police also show that money was also paid to individuals to publicise the case, he had said.

Kumar had also said that during investigation, it was found that Azad's phone was switched off around the time the woman purportedly disappeared. On the property dispute, he said the dispute was about a "small" property.

The NCW had said that police said the incident was planned to implicate the five men, the initial suspects, who had a property dispute with the woman. "Evidence also suggest that (payment of) Rs 5,000 were also made to sensationalise the case in the media," it said.

The property dispute is subjudice at the Karkardooma district court in Delhi. The present three suspects (Azad, Afzal and Gaurav) and the woman planned to implicate gang-rape charges against the five men, a NCW official had said.

IG Kumar had also said that "a woman named Sameena gave the property to Azad in 2021 who in turn gave its power of attorney to a man named Deepak Joshi".

"There was talk about giving this property to the Delhi woman. The case regarding this was going on in the court," the officer had said.

Authorities at the GTB Hospital had on Wednesday had said the woman's condition is stable and no internal injury has been found.

The NCW official had said that "also, the hospital told us that in preliminary medical examination, no semen was found on the victim". Police have also told the commission that the Delhi woman's claim that she had been raped and brutalised by five men is "false", the official had said.