Bhayandar: Thane (rural) Police have arrested a man for allegedly trying to set ablaze a 26-year-old woman when she refused to withdraw a rape case registered against him at the Kashimira police station last month.
The incident was reported from the Hatkesh area of Kashimira last Friday (January 31). In her police complaint, the woman had said, the accused (name withheld) and his accomplice, on a bike, accosted her when she was returning home at 10.30pm.
They persuaded her to withdraw the rape case filed against the accused on January 19 and she refused.
Enraged, the accused hurled a volley of abuses before pouring fuel on her. The woman raised an alarm, attracting the attention of a crowd and this apparently prompted the duo to flee. Complaining of irritation in her eyes, the woman was treated at a local civil hospital.
Based on a tip-off, a police team apprehended the accused from Ahmedabad on Monday. “We have arrested and booked the accused under section 376 of the IPC. We are scanning CCTV footage of the crime spot to ascertain the exact sequence of events.
The accused is in our custody and additional charges will be slapped after confirmation,” said senior inspector Sanjay Hazare.
The accused and the ex-husband of the complainant were known and in partnership, had started an eatery in Mira Road, which turned out to be a loss-making proposition and had to be closed. T
here apparently was a monetary dispute between them, sources said. Meanwhile, the accused were produced in the district sessions court, Thane, which sent them to police custody till February 7.
