Tell the truth on rape or face action, HC warns woman

The free run of a woman who would dupe people on false promises of getting them jobs in Delhi Metro came to an end when the Delhi High Court told her to come clean on her allegation that she was kidnapped and gang-raped by five men from whom she had allegedly taken money.

Warning the woman of strict action, a division bench of Justice P.K. Bhasin and Justice J.R. Midha in a recent order said it appeared to be a "false" case lodged by the woman against the five men "as she cheated them on the pretext of giving them jobs in Delhi Metro and grabbed Rs.18.5 lakh".

The court was not convinced with her narration that she being a Dalit woman was targeted and raped by five upper-caste men to settle a personal score. She had challenged the acquittal of the accused by the trial court.

Refusing to buy her claim, the bench said "she built a story so she didn't have to return the money".

It further opined that the woman "must have cheated public at large" by taking money.

As per the accused, the woman used to run a placement racket in the capital where she used to lure unemployed youth with false promises of getting them jobs in Delhi Metro. She would charge large sums of money in exchange for the service.

In this case, one of the five men, Narender, claimed the woman took Rs.18.5 lakh from him but he failed to get a job promised by her.

When he started demanding his money back, the woman lodged a false case of gang rape and kidnapping against him and his friends. All the accused are from villages in Sonipat and Rohtak districts in Haryana.

When the issue reached the trial court, it found that the woman was neither kidnapped nor raped by the five people.

Acquitting the men, the trial court also raised questions as to how the family of the woman was living a lavish lifestyle when her husband's income was just Rs.70,000 per annum. The family apparently owns a car and uses two mobile phones.

The high court ordered police to investigate whether she has taken money from other people also.

"You (the woman) took more than Rs.18 lakh from the accused and instead of giving back the money, you made a story of rape and kidnapping. Rape was not proved. This was the entire game plan to pull out money," the court remarked after police said the woman was earlier also charged with cheating and forgery in Haryana and Delhi in different cases.

Ordering the woman to appear before it on the next date of hearing, the court cautioned that if she failed to return back the money, "it would consider ordering registration of a cheating case against her".

(Garima Tyagi can be contacted at garima.t@ians.in)