Maha: Man booked for raping, blackmailing college student

A man from Maharashtra's Palghar district has been booked for allegedly raping a 23-year-old college student on several occasions and blackmailing her, police said on Wednesday.

The woman in her police complaint said the accused, Haitik Bharat Shah (age not specified), a resident of Dahanu area who was studying at another institution, raped her first at a resort in Goa where she went for a college picnic earlier this year, a police spokesperson said.

He also clicked some pictures with her and threatened to post them on social media if she refused to have physical relations with him, the official said.

Later, he kept on blackmailing the woman over the pictures and allegedly raped her on several occasions, he said.

The woman also alleged that the accused forced her to sign some documents, including marriage registration papers, the official said.

He recently also uploaded a photograph of both of them as his WhatsApp profile picture and when the woman asked him to remove it, he demanded Rs 25 lakh from her, he said.

The woman approached the police on Tuesday following which a case was registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 (rape), 417 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

No arrest has been made so far, he added.