‘Armyman’ booked for raping student on marriage pretext

TNN
Ludhiana: The police have booked a 25-year-old “Armyman” on the charge of raping a student on the pretext of marriage.

The accused — Abhimanyu, alias Mannu — is allegedly a resident of Army Cantonment in Jalandhar.

The 22-year-old woman said in her police complaint, “Abhimanyu, a native of Kaithal in Haryana, used to send me messages through WhatsApp. I do not know from where he got my number. One day, he called me up and introduced himself as an Armyman. He said he wanted to marry me. Days later, he made his parents talk to mine.”

In August 2018, Abhimanyu threatened to kill himself if she did not marry him. “He then came to Ludhiana and asked me to meet him. When I met him, he took me along to Jalandhar and developed physical relations with me after promising marriage. Thereafter, he violated me several other times,” the Ludhiana district resident added.

When the complainant went to Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra on March 27, Abhimanyu came to visit her. “When I asked him to marry me, he refused. I then realised I had been cheated,” the nursing student said.

The survivor then approached the police, who booked Abhimanyu under sections 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc), 376 (2) (rape) and 506 (criminal Intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Investigating officer sub-inspector Manjeet Kaur said, “The medical examination of the complainant was conducted at civil hospital. A manhunt has been launched to arrest the accused, who was booked on Sunday evening.”

Sudhar SHO sub-inspector Ajaib Singh said, “The survivor told us that the accused works in Army. We will get more details about him, including his designation and unit, after his arrest. His unit will also be informed. It is being investigated how the accused got the survivor’s cellphone number and whether he is an Armyman.”

Sordid state of affairs

February 22: A man and his brother booked after the former allegedly raped a student and later broke engagement with her

February 18: A youth booked for raping his 16-year-old neighbour. On the pretext of giving her a ride on his motorcycle, the youth took her to his cousin’s house where he sexually assaulted her

February 17: An 18-year-old schoolgirl accused her neighbour of raping her for nine months

February 11: An auto driver and his aide raped a 15-year-old Ludhiana girl in Amritsar. The girl had left her house to meet her beau in Delhi, but mistakenly reached Amritsar

January 28: A 22-year-old factory worker arrested for raping a 5-year-old girl

January 25: A man arrested for raping his minor sister-in-law

December 20, 2018: A 19-year-old factory worker arrested for raping a 12-year-old girl in Chandigarh after promising her marriage