Navi Mumbai, October 30: Police in Navi Mumbai have arrested a 19-year-old woman and four others for allegedly filing a "fake" rape complaint and for extortion. The accused include the woman's mother, brother, uncle and a social worker. They have been arrested for accepting Rs 2.5 lakh from the family of a 43-year-old software engineer against whom the rape complaint was lodged. Navi Mumbai: Elderly Man Killed for Demanding Sex From Shopkeeper's Wife; Accused Arrested.

The woman had been employed to take care of the techie's bedridden mother. In her complaint, she alleged that the man had taken her along for shopping. She was given food laced with sedative and sexually assaulted by him on October 18, according to the complaint lodged on October 25. Acting on the complaint, police had registered a case and arrested the accused. Navi Mumbai Shocker: Man Kills 4-Year-Old Son by Banging Him on Floor at Sanpada Railway Station Platform After Fight With Wife.

Soon after, the accused man's wife contacted the police with a recording of conversation with a social worker. She told cops that the social worker had demanded Rs 14 lakh to withdraw the rape complaint against her husband. According to a report by Times of India, the police laid a trap and caught the social worker, the woman, her mother, brother and uncle accepting Rs 2.50 lakh as first payment from the wife of the rape accused.

The police also found loopholes in the woman's story about the events of October 18. While she claimed she was sedated and fell unconscious, CCTV footage from the store where she had gone with the techie showed a different story. "She’s seen having snacks, but did not fall unconscious," Senior Inspector Ravindra Patil was quoted as saying.

"Later, they went to a cutlery store and then to her brother’s house where she took a mattress needed to stay at the man’s house where she was to take care of his mother...So, she was lying that she fell unconscious for an hour after having snacks and that she was sexually assaulted," the officer added. Cops will soon approach the court to quash the rape case filed against the techie.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 30, 2021 01:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).