Mumbai crime: Senior citizen from Malad booked for rape

Raamji Chheda

The Malad police on Friday booked a 65-year-old man for allegedly raping a 55-year-old woman on the pretext of marriage. The accused has been identified as Raamji Chheda, a resident of Ramchandra Lane in Malad West.

The police said the businessman has not yet been arrested as he has fallen ill. According to police sources, the woman is a widow, who used to live in Mumbai, and had moved to Pune to live with her brother. She started to work as a caretaker in the house of a senior citizen in Pune, but the person died, leaving her jobless.

Told her they would marry
The woman said, "I was looking for a job, and a partner to spend my life with. A friend told me about Chheda, who was a widower and lived with his son. He, too, needed support and was looking for a woman to get married to."

She said Chheda had a flat in Mumbai and in Deolali in Nashik. She met Chheda in Mumbai with her friend. After a formal meeting the two decided to get married. She claimed he told her they would marry in the month of March this year but he needed some time to convince his son, who he said was short-tempered. She claimed she then had an accident and fractured her hand in July. She said, "My financial condition was not good. I needed money for the treatment and asked Chheda
for help."

'Forced himself on her'
He promised to help and called her to Deolali to take the money on July 28. She claimed she stayed overnight and Chheda gave her Rs 7,000, before she went back to Pune. She added, "Several days later he called and said that he had decided to marry me on August 5 and asked me to come to Deolali. He also promised to give me Rs 20 lakh as security and a 1BHK flat after the wedding. I stayed with Chheda in his flat for four days and one night he forced himself on me."

According to the woman, after initiating a physical relationship with her in Nashik and Mumbai, he refused to marry her. She said, "I threatened to complain to the police, but without hesitation he said I could do what I wanted. Nothing could affect him, and he just wanted to enjoy life."

'Cheated others too'
She also revealed that when she enquired about Chheda after he refused to marry her, she learnt that he had cheated and raped several other women in Nashik and Mumbai on the pretext of marriage.

"Based on her complaint we have booked the accused under section 376 (2) (N) (rape) of the IPC," said a police officer from Malad police station. "We have sent the woman for a medical check up. The report is awaited," he said.

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