After court order, Gujarat industrialist booked for allegedly raping foreign national

After a court order, the Gujarat CID (Crime) has registered charge of rape against a former employer of a 29-year-old foreign national, who has been running from pillar to post to get her case investigated. The Venezuelan national has alleged that she was raped by her employer in the office in Bhavnagar on August 27 and two weeks later she was terminated from the job where she had worked for nearly six years.

On March 17, additional sessions judge Sita I Tarani allowed the victim's application and ordered the investigating agency to insert section 376 (rape) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the FIR.

The victim's lawyer Rahil Jain said that after the court's order, the CID added the sections in the FIR, which the local police had filed on January 15, 2021, against Bipin Tamboli and his son Vaibhav Tamboli, of Tamboli Castings Limited, under section 354 (c) (voyeurism) of Indian Penal Code and 67 and 67 (A) of Information Technology Act at Vartej police station in Bhavnagar.

She had first approached the police in December by filing a complaint on the e-portal of CID (crime), where she disclosed alleged rape and sexual assault by Vaibhav Tamboli. Then, she physically filed a complaint with the CID (Crime), Gandhinagar on January 4.

The FIR was registered against the father-son duo after they allegedly circulated intimate photos of the victim on social media. The victim approached Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia requesting for investigation and lodging rape charges against Vaibhav. The DGP transferred her FIR with the CID (crime) for investigation.

According to case details, the victim's statement was recorded by a magistrate in connection with the FIR (voyeurism) where also she mentioned her rape. However, her complaint of rape was not allowed against which she moved a sessions court. The sessions court allowed her plea and ordered to include sections of rape and criminal intimidation.

Her lawyer, Jain, said that the victim was raped on August 27 by Vaibhav in his office chamber. The victim went into depression and was treated by the doctors. Barely two weeks later, Jain said, she was terminated from the job on the pretext that her "services were no longer needed."

The Venezuelan national came to Bhavnagar-based Timboli Castings Ltd as an intern in 2014, where she was offered a job after completion of her two years internship. Incidentally, on August 30, 2020, the company was in the news when it was reported that Vaibhav was allegedly stabbed by his brother Mehul during the company's board meeting. It was reported that Mehul was unhappy with the proposal of removing him from the board.