Uttar Pradesh: Ghaziabad woman arrested for allegedly fabricating gang-rape story

A Delhi woman who had claimed that she was abducted and raped by five men for two days was detained on Saturday for using the allegation as part of a scheme to steal property. The lady and three others named Azad, Afzal and Gaurav were charged by police the day before on charges of deception and forgery.

"The woman was arrested by our police team. She was presented before a magistrate to record her statement. The court has sent her to 14 days in judicial custody," Superintendent of Police (City-I) Ghaziabad Nipun Agarwal said.

The lady, Azad, Afzal, and Gaurav were all arrested on Friday and charged with several offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including those related to defrauding, forgery, and the fraudulent use of authentic papers.

According to Alok Dubey, Circle Officer of City-2 in Ghaziabad, they have been charged with forgery and fraud under Indian Penal Code sections 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 471 (fraudulently using as genuine document which the person knows or has reason to believe is forged).
On Wednesday, Swati Maliwal, head of the Delhi Commission for Women, stated that a 36-year-old lady was discovered with her wrists and legs bound and an iron rod placed in her privates.

Ghaziabad police claimed during a news conference on Thursday that the woman's account of being raped and brutalised by the five men was "fabricated" and that the incident was really the result of a plot sparked by a disagreement over "small" property. Four of the five were taken into custody.

Inspector General (IG), Meerut, Praveen Kumar, had said at the conference, "We have not got any evidence against them...Prima facie, in this case, no such incident has taken place. So, there is no question of getting evidence." According to the National Commission for Women (NCW), the woman and her family members made contradictory statements.

IG Kumar responded to the women's claim that she was kidnapped by saying," No. She had gone to a designated place at her own will." According to him, money was also paid to individuals to publicize the case in chats analysed by the police.

Additionally, Kumar said that during the investigation it was discovered that Azad's phone had been switched off around the time the woman was reported to have disappeared. He said the property dispute was over a "small" piece of land.

The NCW had said that police said the incident was planned to implicate the five men, the initial suspects, who had a property dispute with the woman. "Evidence also suggest that (payment of) ₹ 5,000 were also made to sensationalise the case in the media," it said.

The Karkardooma district court in Delhi is now hearing the case involving the disputed land. An NCW official had previously said that the lady and the three current suspects (Azad, Afzal, and Gaurav) had intended to implicate allegations of gang-rape against the five males.

A lady called Sameena "gave the property to Azad in 2021, and Azad handed the property's power of attorney to a guy named Deepak Joshi," as IG Kumar had previously said. 

Also, READ: Noida: Police arrest 4 for secretly filming couples in Oyo rooms to extort money"There was talk about giving this property to the Delhi woman. The case regarding this was going on in the court,"  what the cop stated.

According to Wednesday reports from GTB Hospital officials, the lady is in stable condition and no internal injuries have been discovered.

In addition, the hospital informed the NCW official,  "also, the hospital told us that in preliminary medical examination, no semen was found on the victim". The source had previously said that the police had informed the commission that the Delhi woman's allegation that she was raped and brutalised by five men is 'false'.

(With inputs from PTI)