BJP councillor held for rape, extortion bid

A BJP councillor of Wani Municipal Council in Yavatmal district has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman for over last three years and trying to extort money from her, police said today.

The accused Dheeraj Digambar Pathe (29), a resident of Wasekar Layout in Wani town, was arrested last night based on a complaint filed by a 20-year-old woman, police said.

According to Balasaheb Khade, Inspector of Wani police station, the victim said in her complaint that she lived in the same locality in Wani as Pathe's and they knew each other ever since she was a minor.

"The victim said that when she was still a minor studying in Class XII, Pathe promised that he would marry her in future, and established physical relationship with her. He started repeatedly sexually assaulting her," the officer said.

"When she turned major, he demanded that she marry him. When she refused to tie the knot with him, he started troubling her. He started demanding Rs 5 lakh from her as 'compensation' for refusing to marry him," Khade added.

The victim, who is now a B.Sc student, said he continued to harass her over his demands. But when she stuck to her ground and turned down all his demands, Pathe opened a Facebook account in her name and started sending objectionable messages from that account to defame her, police said.

The victim finally narrated her ordeal to her parents, who approached the police.

Based on the complaint, Pathe was booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 384 (extortion) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document). He was also booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was arrested last night.

According to police, the BJP councillor was a co-accused in one more rape case, which is still pending before the court.