Mumbai: More than a week after a 24-year-old South Mumbai-based journalism student approached the Cuffe Parade police alleging that a real estate agent had assaulted and raped her, the accused is yet to be apprehended by the police.
According to the complaint, the victim had met the accused, Prashant Pandey, when she came to Mumbai in December 2022. She was looking for an apartment in the South Mumbai area as her college is located in Churchgate. A month after they met, Pandey started bombarding messages and phone calls and even frequently showed up outside her building and college despite being told not to.
Victim was raped on April 14
On April 14, the accused called the victim in the Colaba area, stating an emergency. He allegedly offered her a drink spiked with a drug. As the victim was slowly losing her consciousness, he took her to a hotel in Colaba where he assaulted and raped her. When the victim came back to her senses, Pandey showed her a video he took of him raping and molesting her and threatened her to upload the video on social media platforms if she revealed anything about the incident to anyone.
As per the Cuffe Parade police, after an FIR was registered by the victim, Pandey went missing. However, by the end of last week, the police found out that Pandey had applied for an anticipatory bail in a local court.
Meanwhile, sources close to the police reveal that they are waiting to hear the court's decision on Pandey's bail plea. If it is rejected by the court, the police will arrest Pandey, said a source. Pandey is yet to be summoned by the police.
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