The Pant Nagar police on Sunday arrested a 43-year-old Congress worker for allegedly raping a 19-year-old student last year and circulating an MMS clip of the act to tarnish her and her family’s reputation.
He also allegedly forced her to marry him. The girl reportedly had refused to spend nights with him whenever he demanded.
“Pralhad Lokhande, president of the north-east district Congress committee at Ward No. 128 in Kamraj Nagar at Ghatkopar (East), was booked under sections 376, 494, 501 and 506 of the IPC. He was remanded in police custody till July 8 by the local court on Monday,” said an officer.
He added that Lokhande’s cell phone has been sent to the Kalina forensic laboratory to recover the clip which he might have deleted.
Lokhande had allegedly married two women, from Chembur and Ghakopar, before blackmailing the victim to marry him in September 2010, said the officer.
The incident came to light last week when the victim’s parents learnt that Lokhande had allegedly raped her and forced her to marry him in the Bandra court.
Her mother met police commissioner Arup Patnaik on Thursday and demanded stern action against Lokhande who had been arrested in a murder case a few years back.
