Mumbai Crime: Real estate developer held for raping 27-year-old woman on pretext of marriage

Photo for representational purpose

A real estate developer was arrested by the Maharashtra police recently for allegedly raping a 27-year-old woman on the pretext of marriage.

The accused was identified as Sunit Waghmare. The woman initially filed a case against the accused in Mumbai after her refused to marry her, it was later shifted to Lonavla as the accused had allegedly raped the woman at a resort there in 2019, stated a report in Hindustan Times.

"On February 27, we arrested Waghmare from his Mumbai home and produced him in court the next day. He was remanded in police custody up to March 5," said inspector S Sangale, who is investigating the case.

In her complaint, the woman stated she first met Waghmare in 2019 when he offered her a job and began chatting with her over the phone. The accused then allegedly offered to marry her, but she refused as he was already married with children. Waghmare then allegedly told her that he planned to divorce his wife.

"The accused asked her to come with him to Lonavla, where he would be meeting with his lawyer to discuss the divorce procedure. But on arriving at a resort, when the woman asked him about the lawyer, he told her that he lied to her."

Waghmare then allegedly forced himself upon the woman and threatened to harm her. He raped her multiple times and arranged a rented room for her in Mumbai.

Waghmare also made the woman sign an agreement with him for a live-in relationship before avoiding her by telling her that his wife refused to divorce him. "Even if the accused got into the agreement with the complainant for a live-in relationship... she was forced to have a physical relationship against her consent... it amounts to rape," added Sangale.