Mumbai: Bollywood playback singer Ankit Tiwari was arrested here on Thursday for allegedly raping his girlfriend on several occasions, after falsely promising her marriage, the police said.
Best known for his popular song 'Sun Raha Hai Na' from the movie 'Aashiqui 2', Tiwari (24) was arrested by Mumbai police today morning after the woman, who is said to be his girlfriend, complained that he had sexually assaulted her since July 2013, after assuring her marriage, but failed to keep his promise, said Macchindra Bodkhe, police inspector at Versova police station.
Ankit's brother Ankur has also been arrested for allegedly threatening the woman with dire consequences if she made the sexual assault public, the police said.
The two were produced before a court in suburban Andheri after which Ankit was remanded to police custody until May 12, while his brother was granted bail. Ankit is the second Bollywood celebrity held for rape charges in the recent past, after actor Inder Kumar was arrested on April 25 for allegedly raping and abusing a 22-year-old aspiring actress. Actor Shiney Ahuja was also arrested on June 14, 2009, after his maid accused him of rape.
According to the police, the survivor had invited her boyfriend Ankit to her sister's birthday party on July 21 last year.
"During the party, Ankit coerced the survivor into consuming liquor, and thereafter called her to the bedroom under the pretext of having a talk with her. Later, he sexually assaulted her, promising marriage," the officer said.
In August last year, Ankit allegedly applied 'sindoor' (vermillion) on the survivor's forehead in a temple at her residence, after which he continued to demand sexual favours,
the police said. After she resisted physical relationship with him, Ankit threatened the survivor that he would post her obscene photographs and video recordings on social networking sites.
"Ankit also told the survivor that his parents didn't approve of his marriage with her. When she threatened to approach the police, she was threatened of dire consequences by Ankur (26), who is Ankit's brother," the officer said. Finally, she mustered courage and filed an FIR with the police after which Ankit was arrested today. Ankit has been booked under Sections 376 (rape), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), and 506(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, while his brother was charged with criminal intimidation. Lawyer Neeraj Gupta, who represented the accused, told PTI that charges against his client Ankit are completely
fabricated and were filed in order to extort money from him.
"When she learnt that Ankit has become successful in his career, she came to us to demand money, but when we flatly refused to pay, she filed a false complaint against my client," Gupta claimed.
Gupta also claimed that Ankit wanted to marry the survivor, but he stopped responding to her when he learnt that she was already married.
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